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MANILA - Farm mechanization in the Philippines has lagged behind its Asian peers, according to the newly appointed head of the agency tasked with helping modernize the country's agriculture sector.
“Mechanization is a very important component in the modernization of the country’s agriculture sector. But compared to South Korea, Japan and China, the level of mechanization in the Philippines can only be likened to the capacity of a small air conditioning unit,” said Rex Bingabing, executive director of the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization.
The PhilMech official said the Philippines has an average capacity of 0.57 horsepower per hectare, compared with seven horsepower for Japan and four horsepower for South Korea.
“For the medium term, we want to attain the same level as that of Vietnam, which is 0.7 horespower per hectare,” Bingabing said.
According to a study by Dr. Peeyush Soni of the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and Dr. Yinggang Ou of South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, the Philippines has to catch up on mechanizing its agriculture sector to attain food security.
The study said the local agriculture sector still faces the challenges of meeting the growing domestic demand for food, and has to deal with global climate change, labor shortage, and dwindling land and water resources.
To help farmers modernize, PhilMech has brought down their counterpart or equity to 15 percent when securing farm equipment, with the government shouldering the remaining 85 percent of the cost.
Bingabing said farm mechanization is the government's second priority after irrigation through 2016.
The Department of Agriculture has earmarked P2.6 billion for mechanization under the National Rice Program this year, with another P2.4 billion for next year.
Under the DA's mechanization thrust, it aims to distribute the following by end-2016:
- 32,000 hand tractors,
- 49,000 units of shallow tube wells,
- 9,000 units of transplanters,
- 10,333 units of threshers,
- 3,000 units of reapers, and
- 3,353 flatbed driers.
The DA has organized Makina-Saka 2012, an exhibit of farm equipment from July 4 to 7 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
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