The device was crafted by agricultural engineers of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE).
It was among "mature technologies" demonstrated during the Agriculture and Fisheries Technology Forum organized last May 18-19 by DA-BAR as one of the main highlights of the observance of Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Month (May).
BPRE director Ricardo Cachuela told this writer that the device is now at the "commercial manufacturing negotiation stage." A unit of the copra moisture meter would cast at most P3,000, he said.
The development of the equipment was an offshoot of a program evaluation of PCA and the United Kingdom (UK), which noted that there was no commercially available moisture meter specific for copra.
"An existing policy and regulation requiring copra moisture meter in copra trading could not be implemented fully due to the absence of such moisture meter," BAR stated.
The gadget measures the amount of water present in copra reflected in percent moisture.
It does not require technical know-how in operating it. It is composed of two main parts – the readout module (which shows the moisture content) and the probe (which is equipped with two prongs that function as sensor).
The probe is inserted into the copra meat, the switch is turned on, and an instantaneous value is presented as moisture content. – RAF