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

NEWS STORIES

DA turns over Rice Processing Complex to Bohol farmers
by Aeron P. Bermudez (November 11, 2014)
The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Provincial Government of Bohol turned-over the operation and management of the P200M modern rice processing complex (RPC) to Bohol Farmers’ Multipurpose Cooperative (BOFAMCO) last November 7 in Pilar, Bohol.

The turn-over was led by Usec. Emerson Palad, DA Office for Operations, Gov. Edgar Chatto of Bohol, Dir. Angel Enriquez, Regional Executive Director, DA-RFO 07 and Mr. Seo Dongsung, Korean International Cooperation Agency’s (KOICA) Deputy Resident Representative to the Philippines.

BOFAMCO, the largest farmer-cooperative in Bohol with almost 5,000 members is set to provide additional services to their members through custom services for drying and rice milling.

According to Mr. Bernardo Jumo, chairperson, BOFAMCO, “malaki ang pasasalamat namin na kami ang napili na mag-manage sa RPC. Lahat ng aming miyembro ay buo ang suporta para dito. Sa katunayan, higit sa isang libong miyembro namin ay nagtanim na rin ng palay dahil nakita namin ang potensyal nito. Malaki talaga ang tulong nito sa amin”.

Mr. Seo Dongsun said that the RPC in the country is historic and symbolic because of all the KOICA projects around the world, this is the first case that their project will be given directly to farmers’ organization.

He also said, “the turnover of this project is only the beginning and we hope that RPC will continuously help uplift the lives of our farmers through the proper management of the cooperative”.

Meanwhile, Dir. Angel Enriquez challenged BOFAMCO to take good care of the facilities and be part in sustaining it. “This facility is a symbol of friendship between Korea and the Province of Bohol so we hope that this will continuously help uplift the lives of our Boholano farmers”, she added.

RPC is a state-of-the-art facility established for farmers to increase their income by value adding in rice processing and marketing. It was also established to produce quality milled rice, reduce postharvest losses, improve the distribution system and maximize the utilization of rice by-products.

On the other hand, PhilMech is still involved in monitoring the development of the RPC through the leadership of BOFAMCO.

Bohol contributes approximately 70% of the total rice production in region 7. This is why Bohol was chosen to receive the multi-million grant from Korea.

Dir Rex Bingabing of PHilMech, Cong. Arthur Yap, Pilar Mayor Necitas Cubrado and Engr, Eugene Cahiles, chairman of Bohol RPC Management Board were also present during the turnover and acceptance ceremony.