By Henrylito D. Tacio
Farmers trying out a walk-behind mechanical transplanter for the first time are totally astonished by its derived savings and efficiency.
For instance, Jobani King Zacarias, who recently tried the machine, shared that he typically spends P4,000 on labor to manually transplant half a hectare of crops. However, with the mechanical transplanter, he could cut his expenses nearly in half, spending only P2,600.
“It is also highly efficient. Before, I would hire 10-15 workers for manual transplanting, but with this machine, just three workers can transplant half a hectare in only six hours. This not only lowered our costs but also simplified our work significantly, requiring fewer laborers,” said the farmer-cooperator from Infanta, Quezon.
In Nagcarlan, Laguna, farmer-cooperator Rogelio Pandana confirmed cost savings, sharing that he saved P3,000 by using a mechanical transplanter, which he found easy to operate, despite being his first time.
Farmer-cooperators have observed the crop’s uniform growth due to the precise adjustment of the planting distance and depth for each seedling when using the machine.
While some farmers in their communities still have doubts about the machine’s efficiency, Zacarias and Pandana believed that through the PalaySikatan technology demonstration, they can convince fellow farmers to modernize their practices for easier, faster, and more cost-effective production.
PalaySikatan technology is actually the brainchild of Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), where certified inbred seeds of rice are showcased through the mechanized technology demonstration.
“We, farmers, must embrace modern technology to stay globally competitive,” Zacarias said.
In the Philippines, agriculture is an important part of the economy with crops like rice, coconut, banana, and sugar dominating the production of crops and exports. According to the World Bank, agriculture employs 23% of the country’s workforce as of 2021.
Unfortunately, agriculture seems not to be moving forward as expected. One reason is that most Filipino farmers are still not using farm machineries to make it more competitive.
Returns
Mechanization can help farmers save time and money and increase their productivity, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the launching of the South Cotabato Rice Production and Mechanization Program in Banga municipality.
“We can observe a decrease in production costs if we use mechanization because labor costs will also decrease,” Marcos was quoted as saying. “The harvest will increase and your yield per hectare will increase as well.”
But putting machines in Philippine agriculture may take time. “We have yet to mechanize Philippine agriculture, at a level of at least four horsepower (hp) per hectare (ha), and be at par with our ASEAN counterparts,” said William D. Dar when he was the secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Studies conducted by the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) – the center of mechanization in the agriculture sector – show the country’s level of mechanization is 1.23 hp/ha for all crops, 2.31 hp/ha for rice in all provinces, and 3 hp/ha in major rice-producing provinces like Isabela and Nueva Ecija.
“The government has been striving to develop and promote appropriate agricultural machinery and other mechanization technologies,” wrote Elmer Bautista, Jong-sun Kim, Yun-jung Kim and Maria Evic Panganiban, authors of a paper that was published in the Journal of the Korean Society of International Agriculture. “It is well known that agricultural mechanization raises the efficiency of farm operations and inputs and lowers production costs and postharvest losses.”
Low mechanization-level
Unfortunately, the Philippines is still classified at a low-mechanization level. There are several reasons for this: low buying power of farmers, abundance of rural labor, very small landholdings per farmer, high cost of machines, and government policies not favorable to mechanization agriculture.
“Promoting farm mechanization in the Philippines has also been constrained by small-sized, unaccessible rice fields especially during the rainy season, irregular, and nongeometric-shaped farm areas,” Bautista and his co-authors wrote in their paper entitled “Farmer’s perception on farm mechanization and land reformation in the Philippines.”
“Mechanizing these lands can be inefficient due to too much maneuvering in operations like land preparation and harvesting,” they added. “The use of machinery and other large-scale agricultural practices is hampered.”
Farming and farm machinery have evolved greatly over the years. Farm machinery means all machines and tools that are used in the production, harvesting, and care of farm products. Take the case of a tractor, which provides power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks, especially tillage.
Advantages
Modern farm machinery has upgraded the agricultural industry for the best. In using the rice combine harvester, for instance, a farmer can harvest and thresh 3-5 hectares of land in a day.
“Traditional/manual harvesting will take you 15-20 man-days per hectare, excluding the threshing operation,” said Jett Molech G. Subaba, supervising science research specialist of the PHilMech’s Applied Communication Division. “That is how beneficial mechanization is.”
That’s only in harvesting. Another farm activity that takes so much labor is planting. In Laur, Nueva Ecija, manual planting of rice usually takes 5 days to finish. But when a farmer uses a mechanical transplanter, it will take him only two days to finish planting a 6-hectare farm.
Using farm machinery will greatly improve the agricultural production of the country only if the farmers will adopt this technological innovation.
“Using machines is very promising,” Subaba pointed out. “It can provide ease in farming, faster operations, and better results, unlike traditional practice. The work will not be that tedious anymore, especially in harvesting as the combine harvester offers two-in-one operations (harvesting and threshing). Moreover, using machines can also generate income as owners can venture into farm service provision enterprises.”
Farmers need to think about these advantages. “I don’t think older farmers will have a hard time (using machines) since they are the real experts on the ground,” said Subaba. “However, we understand that they already have limitations.”
A study conducted by the University of the Philippines showed that the average age of Filipino farmers is 53 years old although some sources say it’s 57 years old. “If the trend continues and the engagement of the youth will not increase, then we can expect an older workforce, or worse, a scarcity of farmers in the country,” Subaba said.
“With fewer to no farmers, our food supply could be at stake,” he continued. “That is why it is high time for the youth to engage now in farming. Our youth are passionate, innovative, and competitive. They have a huge potential in transforming the future of agriculture.” — ###
(Photos courtesy of Philmech)
Photo captions:
1. The work in planting rice can be minimized by using a machine. (Philmech)
2. Harvesting is easier when machine is being used. (Philmech)
