The Agriculture Department said it allocated P32 million for a rice processing complex in Ambalgan, Sto. Nino, South Cotabato.
DA-12 regional executive director Amalia Datukan said the government invested the amount for the construction, operational capital, capability building and for administrative and management requisites of the facility.
The complex houses two biomass-fed mechanical dryers capable of drying 600 sacks of palay in eight hours, a modern rice mill and a storage facility.
The agency said with the improved RPC milling recovery of at least 65 percent, compared to the single-pass rice mills with a recovery of 58 percent, the farmers could save around 2,500 metric tons of rice that could have gone to waste.
This would translate to at least P88 million in savings.
Jaime Junsay, chairman of Firmus Farm Services Cooperative in Ambalgan, said aside from the better milling recovery, the RPC also provides more room for income and convenience for the farmers consolidating their efforts for higher productivity and bigger income.
