CALAUAN, Laguna – The Department of Agriculture - Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (DA-PhilMech) distributed rice farm machineries to 26 Farmers Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs) from the province of Laguna, at Laguna Agricultural Trading Center (LATC), on July 30, 2020.

As part of the RCEF Mechanization Program, Engr. Baldwin Jallorina spearheaded the distribution of the following machineries: 16 units of rice combine harvester, 4 units of riding-type mechanical rice transplanters, 7 units of walk-behind mechanical rice transplanters, and 1 unit of precision rice seeders.
Jallorina reminded the FCAs to always take good care of the machineries by consulting experts especially for troubleshooting concerns. He added that the farmers should not worry because other implementing agencies such as Agricultural Training Institute and TESDA will be providing trainings for the FCAs. In his closing message, he reminded the farmers, “Gamitin nang mabuti, huwag ipagdamot” [Use them wisely, share it with others].

Provincial Agriculturist of Laguna, Mr. Marlon Tobias also encouraged the beneficiaries of the to share the grant to all its constituents. Although granted to FCAs, he said that these machineries should be for the benefit of the community as a whole.

This statement was also supported by Mr. Dennis Arpia who also called on to the farmers and hoped for them to make good use of the machineries. Arpia added that monitoring will be conducted by DA-PhilMech to check whether the machineries aid farmers to be more efficient and sustainable. He emphasized that these machineries are free of charge for the farmers so to help in their production.