According to the National Food Authority Administrator Jessup P. Navarro, the NFA is now operating 11 units of mechanical dryers using biomass furnace to boost its drive to reduce grains post-harvest losses and cut the cost of palay drying.
The 11 units now in operation are part of the 91 units of grain dryers complete with biomass furnace the NFA bought to be used during the first half of this year as part of the FIELDS (Fertilizer, Irrigation, Extension,Loans, Dryers and Seeds) program of the govern-ment to increase the country’s palay production.
Post harvest losses, particularly in palay, increases during the main harvest season which coincides with the rainy months when farmers’ income is low, Navarro pointed out.
"Grains losses during this period due to improper grains drying also sets back efforts towards rice sufficiency," said Navarro.
The NFA addresses this problem by continuously upgrading its drying facilities to cater to the farmers’ need. Based on the NFA’s record, however, the utilization of mechanical dryers remain low primarily due to the high cost of fuel for mechanical dryers, Navarro pointed out.
"Through the extensive use of mechanical dryers among farmers, we expect to reduce the estimated 14 percent losses in the country’s palay produc-tion," he added. "At 65 percent milling recovery, this volume is equivalent to 1.48 million metric tons or close to 30 million bags of rice. This could contribute a lot in attaining the country’s goal towards rice self-sufficiency and in reducing the incidence of hunger and poverty, " he emphasized. An NFA study conducted on the performance of batch-recirculating mechanical dryer retrofitted to a prototype biomass furnace proved to be adaptable and cost viable in the NFA’s dryer installation.
The use of biomass fuel significantly reduces the cost of drying by around 36 percent. "Lower cost could eventually attract more farmers to avail of NFA’s grains drying services and give them the opportunity to produce quality grains that could demand a better price in the market," said Navarro. (NFA-PAD) /MP
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