The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is allocating P3.3 billion to buy 300 rice drying systems over the next three years, raising capacity for the process by 35-40%.
In a statement, DA said it has delivered and commissioned 118 rice processing systems, with an additional 27 due by end December 2025.
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. wants to modernize the agriculture sector, citing the need for infrastructure investment to minimize post-harvest losses and make supply chains more robust.
Deputy Project Director Noel T. Provido said the new facilities can only partly address the decades-long under-investment in agriculture.
“There must be parallel moves to ensure access to inputs, mechanization, and fair pricing mechanisms.”
“This is a strong step forward, but structural issues in rice production can’t be solved by drying facilities alone,” Provido added.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. added that the Marcos administration has stepped up agricultural modernization by completing in three years a total of 145 Rice Processing Systems (RPS) nationwide—a scale of investment the Department of Agriculture (DA) says is unmatched in recent history. More investments are being prepared to sustain the momentum forthe remaining half of the President’s term.
Sec. Laurel said the initiative, implemented through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Mechanization Program, is designed to tackle the chronic lack of drying and milling facilities that continue to plague Filipino rice farmers.
The President is pushing for increased funding to scale up infrastructure. Under RCEF 1.0, the government has so far established 151 Rice Processing Systems nationwide—145 of which have so far been completed.
In addition to the 145 RPS units, the DA has budgeted PHP 3.3 billion to roll out 300 more drying systems across the country over the next three years.
Beefing up rice drying capacity to 35–40 percent during the wet season before the President exits in 2028—could be game-changing for a sector that loses up to 16 percent of potential yield due to post-harvest inefficiencies.
This aggressive infrastructure build-out could mark a turning point for the country’s beleaguered rice industry. Post-harvest losses, inefficiencies in the supply chain, and poor access to processing facilities have long eroded farmer income and high consumer prices.
Economists, however, caution that while RPS investments are a crucial milestone, broader reforms must follow—particularly in land consolidation, irrigation development and market access
“The Philippines has underinvested in postharvest systems for decades. This is a strong step forward, but structural issues in rice production can’t be solved by drying facilities alone,” said Dr. Provido, an agriculture economist. “There must be parallel moves to ensure access to inputs, mechanization, and fair pricing mechanisms.”