The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), through the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), has released a PHP1,380,000 grant to boost the production capability of an agri-based firm in Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay province.
Jennifer Pidor, Zamboanga Sibugay Provincial Science and Technology director, said in a statement Saturday the grant was the second the Paras Rice and Corn Mill have availed from the DOST through SETUP.
The rice and corn mill firm re-availed the SETUP assistance for the provision of a rice grains mechanical dryer after it was identified to be an opportunity for improvement during a technology assessment.
Pidor said the mechanical dryer is a system used to remove water from wet grains by forcing either ambient air or heated air through the grain bulk.
She personally turned over the fund on Aug. 3 to Editha Paras, owner of the rice and corn mill firm, for the construction of the rice hull furnace system.
Previously, the Paras Rice and Corn Mill firm availed of a mechanized harvester worth PHP1,580,000, which made harvest time efficient.
Instead of one hectare per day of work, they can now harvest 3.5 hectares per day.
With the machine in place, the firm no longer has a hard time employing people to do the harvesting and threshing, Pidor said.
Currently, the rice and corn mill has 13 local employees.
Once the new equipment is set up, they are expected to hire three more employees to handle the mechanical dryer.
SETUP enables micro, small and medium enterprises to address their technical problems and improve productivity and efficiency through the infusion of appropriate technologies and acquisition of science and technology training, technical assistance, and consultancy services, among others.
Source: Philippines News Agency
