From July to September 2017, 302,425 Metric Tons (MT) of palay was harvested in Cagayan Valley (PSA Palay and Corn Bulletin Vol. 2, No.1). The harvest is 14,729 MT higher than the yield of Central Luzon making it the new rice granary of Luzon. Cagayan Valley produced 8.92 percent (%) of the country’s palay in 2017. Considering the figures, we can’t help but wonder how and where are these palays processed? Another aggravating circumstance is that farmers are no longer allowed to dry their produce on all of our road networks. On top of that, most of the basketball courts in the barangays that were once used as solar driers are now slowly being converted into covered courts to act as evacuation centers during calamities. Assuming that weather and conditions become favorable and that the farmers are able to dry their harvest well, the next question is where will they mill their palay. The usual rice mills that we have are single pass rice mills. The rice mills can do the job, and there’s no doubt about it, but the product is not as good as those milled by multi-pass rice processing facilities. As a result, the price of rice that is milled using conventional rice mills are cheaper. It’s about time that we provide a solution to these menacing problems of the farmers. A state-of-the-art Post Harvest Facility is now being built in southern Isabela to serve the needs of the farmers.

The Project

Farmech’s role in the agriculture industry is as essential as that of the FarmOner’s Cooperative. Being an Agro-Industrial technology leader, Farmech is able to help the farmers by constructing, installing and fabricating tools, implements and even infrastructures that will help increase the yield of the farmers and make farming easier.

Farmech has its own fabrication shop where farm implements are being produced. The team is composed of Architects, Civil Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Agricultural Engineers, and other different technical professionals to ensure that all technical aspects are covered.

They convert barren lands to productive agricultural lands using heavy equipments and even latest technologies like laser land leveller. They complete the development by constructing irrigation systems and road networks.

Currently, Farmech is constructing it’s most ambitious project - The state-of-the-art Post Harvest Facility in Gumbaoan, Echague, Isabela. The first phase is expected to be completed by March and when completed, the 6-drier module can dry up to 180 Metric Tons per day and the 10-stage Rice Processing Facility is capable of producing high quality rice that can match even the best rice that is imported from other countries.

When completed, the Mega Facility, which will also use sack-less technology, is expected to process more than 1,000 MT of palay per day.

Drying Facility
The ultramodern drying facility will be fitted with thirty six (36) units of 30-tonner industrial driers. This means that when completed, this facility can dry up to 1,080MT of palay everyday. Phase 1 is about to be completed and six (6) driers are now in place which means that by the end of March 2019, 180MT of palay can be dried in this facility per day.

Silos and Warehouses
To complement the drying facility, silos and warehouses are also being built. For Phase 1, three (3) Industrial Steel Silos with a capacity of 500 tons each will be built. Supporting the huge silos are two (2) smaller silos with a capacity of 50 tons each. These silos are also supported by warehouses that are strategically located in Isabela, Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija. Four (4) warehouses are already existing and are already being used as of the moment.

Rice Processing Facility
Completing the state-of-the-art post harvest facility is the 10-stage Rice Processing Facility. The ultramodern rice mill will sit side by side with the industrial driers and silos such that wet palay may be processed on one end and the process continues until the palay is converted to rice without using sacks in between and that the only manpower required is operating the machines. From drying to storing to milling, the entire process is done fully automated.

Business Advantage
According to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Cagayan Valley has about 540,800 hectares of farm making it one of the best places in the Philippines to do agriculture. Out of that number, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) confirmed that about 139,000 hectares or 25.70 percent of the region’s farm land are planted with rice. The construction of the Magat Multipurpose Dam has made the region a desirable region for agriculture because the dam has provided a steady irrigation for rice farms in Isabela. Cagayan river (also known as Rio Grande de Cagayan and is the longest and largest river in terms of volume of water discharge in the Philippines) irrigates Cagayan province. These figures, give the Cagayan Valley Region the agricultural advantage over other areas in the Philippines.