DA sets upgrade of rice processing facilities to cut postharvest losses

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is aiming to reduce postharvest losses in rice by improving processing centers across the country.

The agency has revised the guidelines governing rice processing centers, designed to improve the efficiency of rice production by reducing postharvest losses, improving the quality of milled rice, enhancing distribution and marketing system and maximizing the utilization of rice by-products.

The revision is contained in a memorandum order which, the DA said, was issued “to ensure efficient implementation, coordination, and delivery of integrated support services that will optimize investments in [rice processing centers] under the Rice Banner Program”.

It will cover the following: upgrade of existing rice processing facilities including the construction of a new warehouse and provision of machinery, establishment of such facilities and the support complementing the rice processing system funded by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.

The DA said it aimed to give farmers access to a palay drying facility especially during inclement weather conditions.
This will preserve the quality of harvested paddy and help attain at least 65-percent milling recovery and the production of high-grade quality milled rice.

It shall also provide rice producers with direct access to modern rice milling facilities capable of producing premium, well-milled, and regular-milled rice based on the required preference of consumers, and enhance the technical, financial, entrepreneurial and managerial capacities of farmer’s organizations.