Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Philippine Center for Postharvest
Development and Mechanization
CLSU Compound, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija

NEWS STORIES

Tarlac cooperative, PHilMech sign MOA
by Gio Anton T. Barroga (November 29, 2021)
A memorandum of agreement (MOA) has been signed between the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (DA-PHilMech) and the AMIA Cruz Agriculture Cooperative (AMIA) during a two-day event from November 25 to 26, 2021 in Victoria City, Tarlac.

According to the MOA, the cooperative will serve as the testing and training site for the production of the sugarcane silage. PHilMech, on the other hand, will train members of the cooperative on the recommended system for ensiling sugarcane tops.

Through the MOA, PHilMech will also provide a package of technology (POT) for the production of animal feeds with sugarcane tops to the cooperative. The forage chopper will aide in the production of the silage by chopping the sugarcane tops into a recommended size.

Apart from the PHilMech officials and members of the cooperative present during the MOA signing and turnover ceremony, Engr. Wilson Gardoce, who is a representative from the municipal agriculture office attended the training day of the event.

While sugarcane is most commonly produced as sugar, sugarcane juice or even a cheap snack called tubo, the agency's project will help sugarcane farmers turn discarded sugarcane tops into silage, which can be used to feed livestock that can also be sold as feeds to other livestock owners.

According to a PHilMech study, sugarcane tops can become a tasty and nutritious treat for livestock when mixed with a fermentable substrate that would fermented for a month. This would allow sugarcane farmers to earn a little more from the sugarcane tops.

14 members of the cooperative took part in the two-day event. The project, headed by Bio-Process Engineering Division (BPED), provided an in-depth lecture on the purpose of the project, as well as the operation and maintenance of the machine included in the POT.

Enterprise Development Division's (EDD) Engr. Danilo A. Briones led the talks in creating a business model canvass that cooperators can use to map out their business plan for the project.

Members were also taught on the importance of the Gender and Development (GAD) aspect in the cooperative to raise awareness on the different roles that men and women play. This was led by EDD's Renz M. Bernandino.

Engr. Edgar D. Flores and Maggie Mae N. Dulay of the Socio-Economic and Policy Research Division were in charge of discussing the financial aspect of the project, where they covered the potential earnings of the final product.

The BPED's Science Research Specialist I Aileen R. Ligisan took charge in training the members of the cooperative during the second day of the event.

The project is also part of the agency's COVID-19 Response project which aims to provide much needed assistance to farmers affected by the pandemic.