The province of Oriental Mindoro is known to be among the rice granary of the Philippines. To sustain the area’s productivity, the Department of Agriculture in MiMaRoPa Region (DA-MiMaRoPa) with the assistance of Philippine Center for Post Harvest Mechanization and Development (PhilMech) has been putting up rice processing centers (RPC) in the province.
There are already four (4) RPCs in the province; three of which are already operational and the 4th is almost ready for operation.
On August 10, 2017, the third RPC that costs Php 6-million, in Bgy. Tigkan, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro was officially opened by the Naujan Farmers Association (NAFA) through a blessing and inauguration ceremony.
The RPC is equipped with mechanized rice millers and circulating dryers. With this equipment and facility, farmers in Naujan now have easier access to much cheaper and efficient rice mill that could help them lessen their production and labor costs.
Aside from the RPC, the association was also given P1 million working capital from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council.
“Kaming mga magsasaka sa bayan ng Naujan ay nabigyan ng bagong pag-asa dahil may kakayahan na kaming maitaas ang antas ng aming buhay,” expressed by Conrado Balmes, President of NaFa, during the blessing and inauguration ceremony.
The ceremony was witnessed by the farmer members and staff from DA-MiMaRoPa namely Engr. Coleta Quindong, Oriental Mindoro Agriculture Program Coordinating Officer; Marieta Albis, Head, Institutional Development Unit; and Ronie Panoy, OIC-Regional Technical Director for Operations. Municipal Mayor Atty. Mark Narcos, Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Ely Vargas and Bgy. Captain Medardo Icaro also graced the event.
