MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) aims to finish building 27 new rice processing facilities before the end of the 2025 as part of efforts to modernize the country’s postharvest systems and improve its rice supply chain.
The DA said the 27 facilities form part of the 145 Rice Processing Systems (RPS) targeted for completion under the Marcos administration through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech).
“This is a legacy investment. One that finally gives our farmers the tools to compete and thrive,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.
The facilities are being established under the mechanization program of the P30-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).
Tiu Laurel said the new facilities are intended to ease the shortage of drying and milling infrastructure that has long affected small rice farmers.
Each system allows farmers to dry, mill and process palay or unmilled rice in one place, reducing losses and improving grain quality.
The DA said that as of September, 118 rice processing facilities had been established across major rice-producing provinces.
President Marcos, who previously served as agriculture secretary, had pushed for increased funding to expand postharvest infrastructure.
Under the RCEF, the government has 151 of these facilities nationwide, 145 of which are slated for completion during his term.
Aside from these rice processing facilities, the DA said it has also allotted around P3.3 billion to construct another 300 drying centers over the next three years.
The DA said the goal is to raise rice drying capacity to as much as 40 percent during the wet season before Marcos leaves office in 2028.
The government agency added that improving postharvest systems could be key to cutting rice losses, which industry data estimate at up to 16 percent of total yield due to spoilage and inefficiencies in the supply chain.
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