DA pushes cooperative ownership of rice mills

DA pushes cooperative ownership of rice mills

AS part of efforts to modernize the country’s rice milling industry, the
Department of Agriculture plans to create qualified farmer cooperatives
that would be allowed to take ownership of rice mills.

Under the DA’s six-year mechanization and postharvest program for rice,
the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization said
that qualified farmer cooperatives engaged in rice farming will be given
financing support to own their rice mills and increase efficiency in grain
production.

Based on surveys and field studies conducted by PhilMech, most private
rice mills in the rural areas use single pass mills where the recovery
rate from unhusked rice or palay is from 50 percent to 57 percent.
Ricardo Cachuela, PhilMec executive director, said mills using the
multi-pass technology will be made available to qualified farmer
cooperatives.

A multi-pass rice mill has a recovery rate of 65 percent to 70 percent,
Cachuela said.

“Recovering an additional 8 [percent] to 13 percent from milling
operations alone will contribute significantly to the supply of rice in
the Philippines if many farmer cooperatives are able to operate the
multi-pass mills,” he said.

Under the program, the DA will provide a grant equivalent to 75 percent of
the cost of the multi-pass rice mill, while the qualified farmer
cooperative will shoulder the remaining 25 percent with loans and capital
outlay.

A modern rice mill employing the multi-pass system costs around P4
million, excluding cost of land, the official said.

Farmer cooperatives that can take part in the program should be registered
with the Cooperative Development Authority, and willing to shoulder
preconstruction expenses like land filling, compacting and clearing, among
others.

“With this program, farmer cooperatives could get to own their modern rice
mills that will in turn greatly help their members because the recovery
rate from milling palay is higher,” Cachuela said.

He said many farmer cooperatives already have profitable operations, and
that these cooperatives are more than ready to provide their own
counterpart funds to acquire and operate multi-pass rice mills.
Cachuela said that there are still farmers who use the old kiskisan method
in milling palay, where the recovery rate is as low as 50 percent.
“It is high time that farmers adopt the latest technologies in postharvest
and milling, so they can achieve higher efficiencies and profitability in
their operations,” the official said.
James Konstantin Galvez

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