Govt eyes farmer coops in rice mill modernization

The government is eyeing to make qualified farmer cooperatives major partners in its effort to modernize the rice mill industry in the country. According to Ricardo Cachuela, executive director of Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), they are planning to give financing support to qualified farmers that are engaged in rice farming so that they can take ownership of their own rice mills. He said this way, the farmers' rice mills will be more efficient than most that are currently operated by rice millers and some farmer cooperatives. PhilMech is an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture. The plan was under the DA Mechanization and Postharvest Program for Rice (2011 to 2016). “It is high time that farmers adopt the latest technologies in postharvest and milling, so they can achieve higher efficiencies and profitability in their operations," Cachuela said in a statement released over the weekend. Modern rice mills Cachuela said based on surveys and field studies conducted by PhilMech, most rice mills in the rural areas in the Philippines use single pass mills where the recovery rate from palay (unhusked rice) is from 50 percent to 57 percent. He said under the program, mills using the multi-pass technology will be made available to qualified farmer cooperatives. A multi-pass rice mill has recovery rate from 65 percent to 70 percent. “Recovering an additional 8% to 13% from milling operations alone will contribute significantly to the supply of rice in the Philippines if many farmer cooperatives are able to operate the multi-pass mills," Cachuela said. Under the program, the DA will provide a grant equivalent to 75 percent of the cost of the multi-pass rice mill, while the qualified farmer cooperative will shoulder the remaining 25 percent with loans and capital outlay. A modern rice mill employing the multi-pass system costs around P4 million each excluding cost of land, Cachuela said. Requirements He said farmer cooperatives that can take part in the program should be registered with the Cooperative Development Authority, and willing to shoulder pre-construction expenses like land filling, compacting and clearing, among others. “With this program, farmer cooperatives could get to own their modern rice mills that will in turn greatly help their members because the recovery rate from milling palay is higher," Cachuela said. He added that many farmer cooperatives already have profitable operations, and that these cooperatives are more than ready to provide their own counterpart funds to acquire and operate multi-pass rice mills. Cachuela said that there are still farmers who use the old “kiskisan" method in milling palay, where the recovery rate is as low as 50 percent. — KBK, GMA News