JICA funding tapped for farm upgrades

THE Agriculture Department is pushing for Philippine farms to be fully mechanized with the help of a P900-million loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“Unless we mechanize, we will not be able to catch up,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said in an interview with reporters on Tuesday, referring to the Philippines’ competitive advantage vis-a-vis Southeast Asian nations.

The project proposal is to be presented to Japanese Prime Minist e r Shinzo Abe on his official visit to the Philippines in the third week of January.

The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) estimates the mechanization level of the agriculture sector 1.23 horsepower per hectare, as surveyed in 2011.

Rice and corn farms were respectively at 2 hp/ ha by end-2012 and 2.31 hp/ ha at the end of 2013.

This puts the Philippines well behind neighbors Vietnam ( 1.56 hp/ ha), China ( 4.10 hp/ ha), and South Korea (4.11 hp/ ha), among others.

PhilMech Executive Director Dionisio G. Alvindia earlier said the center has set a target of 3 hp/ ha by the end of this year.

Should the loan request materialize, the agency will start off pilot testing on 10,000 hectares of selected rice farms.

Mr. Piñol said that under the Philippine agricultural modernization program, the DA proposes to provide farmers in 10 pilot sites with farm machinery such as grains driers and post-harvest facilities, technical support and institutional development.

Each of the model sites will have clusters of rice farms totalling 1,000 hectares. Established cooperatives in these areas will be tasked with management of the farm equipment and the lease of the equipment to local farmers.

JICA currently provides support in the construction and rehabilitation of rural infrastructure facilities such as irrigation systems, farm- tomarket roads, postharvest facilities and potable water supply systems. —