President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that government will establish 300 additional palay (unhusked rice) processing centers across the country to ramp up post-harvest processes and reduce losses for farmers.
Since he assumed office in 2022, Marcos said his administration has already put up 152 of such facilities nationwide.
“This year, we will build 300-plus drying systems. I told the secretary of agriculture [Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.], I hope we don’t see people drying rice on the road, only to be run over by passing trucks,” Marcos said in a media statement.
“What a pity for the crops they worked so hard to harvest,” he observed.
He made the remark after visiting the Rice Processing System and leading the distribution of agri-fishery interventions at Barangay Poblacion 5 in the municipality of Hamtic in Antique.
He said modernization for the agricultural system is underway, including providing farmers with machinery and essential inputs as well as crop insurance.
The president further said the Department of Agriculture will give motorized boats and other livelihood tools to fisherfolk.
“Let’s strengthen our agricultural sector so that we can secure our food supply,” he emphasized. “No matter what happens to the whole world that runs out of rice, we should always have enough rice,” the chief executive pointed out.
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