New machine makes rice farming fun, efficient

Now, rice farming can be more fun. And more efficient and convenient, too.

Opening up this possibility is a machine developed by agricultural engineers of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Val Machine Shop in Guimba, Nueva Ecija.

The "ride-on" implement, or a handtractor fitted with an attached seat, was designed by Dr. Bernard Tadeo, Elmer Bautista, both of PhilRice; Horoyuki Monobe of JICA; and Roman Lugto of Val Machine Shop, which is now fabricating the equipment.

The machine provides comfort to its operator by freeing him from back pains normally experienced when plowing. It also protects farmers from hazardous and disease-carrying materials in the fields such as crushed shells of golden "kuhol", rat urine, and undecomposed organic masses.

It is said that plowing a hectare of rice field with a carabao is equivalent to walking at most 80 kilometers. Later, the development of the hand tractor reduced the farmer’s walk (when plowing a field) to 50 km.

The development of the "ride-on" gadget now makes plowing and harrowing much easier and convenient, according to the PhilRice-JICA-Val Machine Shop study, as monitored by the Los Baños-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

The implement, as reported by PCARRD’s Ofelia Domingo, increased the riding operator’s working speed 36 percent higher than the walking operator. This suggests that the "ride-on" operator can increase his working capacity faster by one-third. – RAF