Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday announced its plans to complete the largest post-harvest drying facilities in the Philippines as part of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s directive to enhance farmers' income and secure food stability for the nation.
According to Philippines News Agency, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. stated that this development signifies the first nationwide deployment of its kind. "For the first time in the country's history, we'll be completing 380 drying systems for the 2027 wet season," he noted. Of these, 230 units are nearing completion and are anticipated to be operational by the end of 2026. The procurement process for these units is finalized, and the installation phase now includes the completion of equipment storage sheds.
The remaining 150 units are slated for implementation in the coming year, with the entire network anticipated to be operational by September 2027. DA Undersecretary Christopher Morales remarked that these facilities will enhance farmers' profitability by lowering production costs and improving rice output recovery, enabling farmers to sell dried palay at a higher market price. "Farmers who utilize the drying facilities stand to earn higher net income per harvest, with estimated additional gains of about PHP12,600 per hectare per cropping season, or roughly PHP25,200 per year," Morales explained, based on an average yield of 4.2 metric tons per hectare.
Overall, the expanded drying capacity could generate an estimated PHP3 billion in additional net income per cropping season or approximately PHP6 billion annually. This value is derived from the volume of palay that can be mechanically dried and an average PHP3-per-kilo price premium for properly dried palay over wet palay. To date, procurement for the initial 230 dryers has been completed, with two units already operational in Nueva Ecija. The majority of the systems are expected to be commissioned before the year's end, adding around 1 million metric tons of palay-drying capacity each cropping season.
