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MATANAO, Davao del Sur – The establishment of the new state-of-the-art postharvest facility and technology of the Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office here has encouraged farmers in this town to further expand their rice production area.

This was disclosed by Arthur Ramon of the Badagoy Irrigators Association as he noted the plan of the farmers to convert 1,000 hectares of sugarcane production area as additional rice farm to their existing 2,250 hectares in Matanao town.

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He said the farmers could get better production given a 65 percent rate of recovery of their produce with the establishment of the Rice Processing Complex (RPC) compared to small rice millers that only give them 50 percent recovery for the wastage incurred during harvest.

“We saw the great advantage on our part if we have our rice produced milled at the RPC,” he said.

The Rice Processing Complex in the Philippines projects are grant from the government of Korea through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) valued at 13 million US dollars.

The partnership covers four areas. Aside from Matanao, Davao del Sur, the other complex facilities are located in Tebang East, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan; Pototan, Iloilo; and Poblacion Pilar, Bohol.

Ricardo Onate, Jr., project manager of RPC DA XI said the complex is a one-stop service center equipped with the state-of-the-art postharvest facilities and technologies that will improve the efficiency of rice production, milling, drying and storage.

He said it will reduce postharvest losses and enhance rice quality. “It also provides consumers access to safe and quality rice,” he said. pna

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