POSTHARVEST MODERNIZATION
TO PREVENT RICE WASTAGE - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today lamented the tremendous loss and wastage in rice due to lack of postharvest facilities, and underscored the need to invest in our countrys agriculture sector.

The total losses of palay due to lack of post-harvest facilties represent 14.84% of the countrys total production, or the equivalent of P15.23 million. These losses are far more than the P7.65 billion we spent for rice importation, he said.

Angara added that the recorded losses in corn production reached 12.70% or P2.15 billion in value, which is also more than our imports totaling P1.46 billion.

Food is more expensive to produce here than in many parts of Southeast Asia. Moreover, Philippine agriculture is handicapped by the lack of basic facilities such as farm to market roads, irrigation networks, post-harvest facilities, fishing ports and access to basic credit. These have prevented our agricultural sector from growing sufficiently to meet the demands of our burgeoning population, Angara said.

Plugging these huge post-harvest losses in the grains sector, even only by half, would dramatically reduce our import dependency ratio, said Angara at the inauguration of the Modern Integrated Rice Processing and Milling Complex in Baler, Aurora, $2.3 million grant from the Korean Government through KOICA.

The Rice Processing Complex will contribute to raising farmers income standard by reducing post-harvest losses and producing high-quality milled rice. The complex is equipped with state-of-the-art post harvest facilities: efficient and affordable drying, milling and processing facilities.

It functions as a One-Stop Service Center which provides training, leasing of large farming machine, continuous drying, storing and milling, purchasing of wet paddy rice, and selling of high quality milled rice.

It is a basic fact that the Philippines is an agricultural country. Agriculture contributes a fifth of our total GDP. This sector continues to provide jobs and support thousands of families, employing nearly two-thirds of our labor force, he said. But the agricultural sector is also home to the countrys poor. Poverty indeed has a rural face. Three out of four Filipinos considered poor are living in the rural areas, among the farthest flung provinces in our country.

Therefore, the huge responsibility of fighting poverty and inequity must begin immediately, with focus on the rural population which depends on agriculture for income and livelihood. Agricultural growth means a direct increase in the incomes of the poorest of our population, he said.