PhilRice shares strategies on harvest of damaged crops

To help farmers recover from the damages caused by typhoon “Lando”, experts at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) have recommended strategies to manage typhoon-damaged crops.

Damage to agriculture has already breached the R8 billion mark, with three rice-producing provinces, namely Aurora, Nueva Ecija, and Isabela among the worst hit.

Combine harvesters PhilRice suggested that in harvesting crops submerged in water or mud, farmers could use the combine harvester provided that the field is already dry.

A combine harvester is a machine used to reap, thresh, winnow and harvest crops.

“If the crop submerged in water is easy to drain, combine harvester can be used provided that no or minimum moisture is present in the panicles to minimize grain losses during operation,” PhilRice agricultural engineer Arnold Juliano explained.

Other methods “For submerged crops with drainage problems, manual harvesting is advisable to save the grains from deterioration,” he added.

Using mechanical dryers is also recommended as it allows drying during unfavorable weather conditions, Juliano said.

“Drying of harvested grains for seeds must have drying temperature not higher than 43 degrees Celsius,” he pointed out.

PhilRice said a publication on how to use the mechanical dryer can be downloaded from the Institute’s website.

To know more about the practical recommendations on how to manage typhoon-damaged crops, farmers were urged to call or text the PhilRice Text Center at 0920.911.1398.

Farming technology updates In a related development, PhilRice has provided science and technology updates for 109 farmers, municipal legislators, agriculturists, and extension workers in Nagtipunan and Cabbaroguis in Quirino province, to promote the latest farming technologies.