The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday said the Marcos administration is eyeing the completion of a total of 145 Rice Processing Systems (RPS) nationwide by the end of 2025.
In a news release, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. described the completion of 145 RPS as a “scale of investment unmatched” in the agency’s recent history.
Since the beginning of the administration in 2022, the Agriculture chief said that the DA has already established 118 RPS with the delivery, installation, and commissioning of the remaining 27 to be completed by December 2025.
Tiu Laurel said the RPS initiative was implemented through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Mechanization Program.
The Agriculture chief said the investment in RPS is designed to tackle the “chronic lack of drying and milling facilities that continue to plague Filipino rice farmers.”
The DA is also allocating P3.3 billion to roll out 300 more drying systems across the country in the next three years.
Tiu Laurel said the Agriculture Department is aiming to raise rice drying capacity to 35% to 40% during the wet season before Marcos exits office in 2028—an increase that could be game-changing for a sector that loses up to 16% of potential yield due to postharvest inefficiencies, according to industry estimates.
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