FarmFriday brings you this update on the maligaya flatbed dryer– one of the most popular search terms here in our blog.  To those interested in the dryer, please contact the Philippine Rice Research Institute for more info.

Drying palay on the road, which is a practice that most farmers do, is wasteful as it can result in 0.7 to 8.7% rice losses, according to the 1996 report of the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE).

Cognizant of this problem, the Department of Agriculture through its various agencies has been distributing several units of the Maligaya flatbed dryers.

The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), for one, is expected to finish soon the distribution of 20 Maligaya flatbed dryers, its share of the 709 proposed dryer units under the project “Mechanical drying support to farm clusters.” Twelve of the 20 units have already been installed in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, and Pampanga as early as October last year while the remaining 8 units are expected to be installed this month in Sta. Cruz, Zambales and in the rest of the municipalities of Nueva Ecija and Pampanga.

On the other hand, around 200 dryer units have been installed by BPRE in the remaining provinces of the country since last year while another 500 units will be installed this year.

read more about the distribution of the maligaya flatbed dryers here…..