The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) and the provincial local government unit of Pampanga inked a memorandum of agreement on the establishment of the Rice Processing System (RPS) III under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Mechanization Program, held today at the Provincial Capitol, San Fernando, Pampanga.
The MOA signing was led by PHilMech Director IV Dr. Dionisio G. Alvindia, Governor Dennis G. Pineda, Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office III (DA-RFO3) Executive Director Crispulo G. Bautista and witnessed by Mr. Joel V. Dator, Interim Director for Operations of PHilMech; Ms. Elma S. Mananes, DA-RFO III Operation Division; and Mr. Jimmy S. Manliclic, OIC Provincial Agriculturist.
The goal of the RCEF-RPS program is to reduce postharvest losses, enhance farmers’ income through agro-enterprise, improve the quality of milled rice, and maximize the benefits of rice mechanization by establishing suitable rice processing systems in qualified FCAs, LGUs, and major rice-producing areas of the Philippines.
Facilities inside the RPS III include three units of recirculating dryers with 12-ton capacity per batch, and one unit of multi-stage rice mill with 4-5 tons of milling input capacity per hour, worth Php72M.
