Philippine agriculture has reached a vibrant stage where exciting developments continue to loom. One of the manifestations is the almost attainment of rice self- sufficiency at remarkable 98percent. This is despite the calamities that devastated rice areas in Regions VI and VII.

Also, another upbeat development is the high momentum created by the rice mechanization program where the level of farm mechanization increased at fast rate.

With these developments, there is a need to find new ways to conduct research and development (R&D) to keep pace with this rapid changes in the agricultural landscape. For PhilMech, Agrinnovation is its contribution.

AGRINNOVATION is a paradigm shift in research and development work

Transformation is not producing something out of nothing, but making something to a better form. Innovation is making something new out of an existing not necessarily creating a whole new thing. PHilMech innovates through a paradigm shift in looking at how we conduct R&D. We adapt, adopt, localize, revise, re-engineer, retrofit, or contextualize available gadgets, machineries, equipment, facilities, systems, processes and instruments to make faster and more appropriate R&D results.

A new approach and paradigm in doing R&D has evolved from the traditional approach to short duration but high impact R&D work.

All these development will boil down to PHilMech’s vision and mission to modernize and make more efficient and productive the agriculture sector.

AGRINNOVATION is systems approach

To find out what is not yet there, a systems approach in developing new designs is called for. Supply chain analysis of high value crops commodities is being done to integrate both available and lacking technologies to fit a commodity system. Lacking technologies will be designed while available technologies are adapted to fit the system. This approach is initially working with coffee, cacao, soybean, cashew, mango, banana and lately coconut.

AGRINNOVATION is adaptation

While some technologies in postharvest and mechanization are already out of the shelves, these need to be adapted or contextualized for local situations. Because technologies are location specific, there is a pressing need to adapt certain technologies to suit or fit the soil, terrain, cropping patterns and agronomic characteristics of plants and other factors inherent to local situations.

AGRINNOVATION is a feed forward linchpin to agribusiness enterprises and industrialization

Because of its more fast pace tempo, more avenues to explore and more methodologies to employ, it is expected that agrinnovation will eventually lead to a wide latitude of agribusiness opportunities and businesses. As such, we will involve the agricultural machinery manufacturing sector in the joint design and development of new machineries, adaptation , fine tuning or retrofitting existing designs. Consequently, the commercialization of these technologies will be faster and more efficient.

So far, agrinnovation , the whole new way of doing R&D has propelled the design and development of the following:

a. Tractor mounted trans planter

b. Tractor mounted combine harvester

c. Onion seeder

d. Compact village corn mill

e. Brown rice huller

f. Cassava digger

g. Granulated cassava belt dryer

AGRINNOVATION is a game plan for future direction and thrust because the status is not still good enough. PhilMech will go beyond the traditional, to explore, expedite, experience a whole new way of doing things to TRANSFORM the future of agriculture and fast track agricultural modernization. For PHilMech, we find novel ways of doing things.