By: Jordeene B. Lagare – Reporter

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is rolling out additional rice drying and storage facilities to improve production efficiency and address persistent storage problems.

The DA announced plans to deploy 150 drying systems this year, featuring larger 900-square-meter warehouses and 24-ton dryers.

These are in addition to 220 drying systems distributed by the agency in 2025, with each equipped with a 390-square-meter warehouse and a 12-ton dryer.

“These facilities will enable farmers to temporarily store and dry their harvest before milling, addressing the persistent problem of inadequate post-harvest storage,” the DA said in a statement over the weekend.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said having sufficient drying and storage facilities would reduce the need to build rice mills. He noted that properly dried and stored palay or unmilled rice can be stored for up to six months.

“Reduced mill downtime, better harvest scheduling and sufficient storage and drying facilities are expected to lower costs, minimize post-harvest losses and preserve rice quality,” it added.

Limiting rice varieties

The DA urged farmers to cultivate only one to two rice varieties in areas served by rice processing systems to ensure continuous operations and cut costs.

“The important thing is the efficiency of the processing systems. If too many varieties are planted at the same time, the facility has to wait for one batch to finish before starting another, which slows down operations,” Tiu Laurel said.

He recommended these after receiving feedback from local farmers’ cooperatives.

The DA chief also said adopting Vietnam’s rice sector model, which focuses on handling one to two rice varieties per region, would enable mills to operate continuously and reduce production costs. In turn, it would boost the income of both farmers and rice millers. INQ

Published Date: January 26, 2026