The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday inaugurated a rice processing system (RPS) and turned over farm equipment amounting to P96 million to farmers from Quirino province.

With its attached agency, the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, DA awarded to  Diffun Saranay and Development Cooperative a rice processing facility, including a rice mill and dryers.

The said cooperative comprises 2,320 farmers managing 3,502 hectares of rice fields. 

Moreover,  production machinery, like tractors, harvesters, and thrashers, was also awarded to 13 farmers’ cooperatives and associations.

“This support package to Quirino rice farmers, which features a state-of-the-art rice processing system, is part of the Department of Agriculture’s determined push to improve post-harvest systems and infrastructures across the country to reduce production losses and ensure the country’s food security,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said.

The RPS is equipped with a multi-stage rice mill with a capacity of four to five tons an hour, or over 48 tons per day, and three units of recirculating dryers, each with a capacity of 12 tons per batch, or a total of 36 tons, according to DA.

Two units of recirculating dryers, worth P78.1 million,  with a capacity of six tons per batch, were also provided to the cooperative.