Making machinery available and accessible to more farmers is a big challenge, but thanks to our partner manufacturers, it became possible.
The two-decade partners PhilRice and Guimba, Nueva Ecija-based Val Agri signed a licensing agreement in 2020 to manufacture and commercialize the machines for land preparation and post-harvest, such as microtiller, laboy tiller, reversible flatbed dryer, and seed cleaner.
Microtiller is a lightweight equipment used for tilling small-sized paddies, while laboy tiller does land preparation, particularly for puddling soil with deep hardpans. The reversible batch-type mechanical dryer dries palay by first introducing heated air at the bottom layer of the grains, then reversing its flow before completing the drying process. The seed cleaner is used to remove foreign materials from the seed mass.
Val Agri is also acknowledged as one of the inventors of the multipurpose (MP) seeder, with the involvement of its owner, Roman S. Lugto, in prototyping, testing, and modifying the equipment.
According to Lugto, the machines have landed in different provinces across the country. Laboy tiller was brought to Aurora, Palawan, Iloilo, Agusan, Davao del Sur, and Bukidnon. The seed cleaner has reached Ilocos Sur. Meanwhile, MP seeders were brought to PhilRice stations.
Good effort pays off
As time passes, these collaborative efforts will not go in vain as farmers find the machines beneficial to their rice fields.
“As seed growers, the seed cleaner is useful to us; it can properly separate the full grains, half grains, and rice hull. Its blower is also easy and faster to use, we can finish 500 cavans per day”, Josephine S. De Guzman, 63, a seed grower from the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija is proud of her implement.
Meanwhile, Jose A. Turzar from Casiguran, Aurora reported that the laboy tiller improved his farming productivity.
“I started using the laboy tiller in 2010,” Turzar recollected,“ and since then, I find it more convenient to prepare our rice field. Before, it took one whole day to finish preparing our 1,000sqm field, but with the help of the machine, it only takes us 30 min to finish the whole area.”
Lugto is also delighted that the microtiller has reached Iloilo, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Benguet, and some parts of Mindanao. The reversible flatbed dryer was installed in PhilRice Isabela and Batac, and its parts were brought to Ilocos, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and Cagayan.
