BACOLOD CITY: A total of 205 farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) and local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental received PHP692.7 million in various rice machinery and equipment over six years under the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Mechanization Program. Part of the grant, amounting to PHP217.076 million in machinery and equipment, was distributed to 50 beneficiaries by the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (DA-PhilMech) in a ceremony held at the Provincial Capitol grounds on Tuesday.
According to Philippines News Agency, PhilMech Director for Research and Development Nelson Santiago emphasized the goal of providing a high level of mechanization to reduce production costs and increase earnings for cooperatives and farmers. Santiago, along with Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and DA Negros Island Region Regional Executive Director Jose Albert Barrogo, led the turnover ceremony.
Under the RCEF Mechanization Program for 2022, 20
23, and 2024, the 50 beneficiaries received 116 units of different production machinery and equipment. These included four-wheel T2 tractors worth PHP10.385 million; four-wheel R3 tractors, PHP27.598 million; power take-off driven disc plow, PHP11.856 million; levee maker, PHP3.32 million; hand tractor, PHP1.024 million; floating tiller, PHP1.544 million; walk-behind transplanter, PHP2.1 million; riding-type transplanter, PHP3.45 million; rice combine harvester (T2-JS), PHP10.44 million; rice combine harvester (T2-FDS), PHP12.009 million; rice combine harvester (T-3), PHP7.679 million; recirculating dryer (T3), PHP10.186 million; single pass rice mill-stationary, PHP6.175 million; and multi-stage rice mill, PHP109.306 million.
Albert Laberos, president of Lateral I-Pacol Irrigators’ Association Inc. in Bago City, expressed gratitude to the government for supporting rice farmers in Negros Occidental. He noted that the equipment would help reduce production costs and increase yield, with potential production o
f more than four metric tons per hectare, reaching up to six metric tons with favorable weather.
Federation of Irrigators’ Association of Central Negros-Bago River Irrigation System president Pedro Limpangog echoed the appreciation, highlighting the importance of the machinery in saving production costs and supporting families.
Data from the DA-PhilMech showed that Negros Occidental FCAs and LGUs received total grants from 2019 to 2024, including PHP150 million in 2019; PHP149.9 million in 2020; PHP138.8 million in 2021; PHP80.4 million in 2022; PHP81.5 million in 2023; and PHP92.1 million in 2024.
