Rosas, Ronald Melvin R.

ABD-1L

2007 66011

Reaction Fieldtrip
AENG 62
Agricultural Machinery
Reaction Paper to the Nueva Ecija Trip

Agricultural machines are important in an efficient and sustainable agriculture.

With the aid of machineries, yield is increased and losses are minimized. Furthermore,
Resources and time is conserved on farm procedures such as land preparation,
planting, pest control, harvesting and post-harvest operation with support of agricultural
machines compared to traditional. Different machines on farming were produced to help
the farmers on producing high quality products and lessen losses. Also producers of
such machines took in consideration the comfort of the user and the cost. In the study of
such agricultural machineries, it is important to have an experience in the production
process undergone by each agricultural machine.
On September 14-15, 2012, a fieldtrip on different agricultural machinery
producing and distributing companies and government units under Department of
Agriculture (DA) was done by AENG 62 and 163 students. It is to expose the student to
the industry of the agricultural machines. Also, it is for the students to appreciate how
each machine is produced. Moreover, it is to let the students anticipate the field or
industry where they, as agricultural engineers, will work in the near future.
The first stop of the trip was the Val agricultural machinery. Near after the small
entrance, there are pile of rotatillers and other agricultural machines. The company has
a relatively small complex. One eye-catching situation on the company is the safety of
the employees. Employees work with improvised apparatus which is not that safe to the
user. They have an unpleasant environment to work and have improvised machines to
adapt to the operation and what they want to produce. They claim about their
innovations employed on some machines which, according to them, failed to be
patented. The production system is quiet crude yet they are patronized by nearby
farmers and farmers group because of their low machine prices compared to other
commercial companies.

Second to the itinerary is the Phil Rice or the Philippine Rice Research Institute.
It is a government entity attached to DA that is responsible in development of high
yielding and minimal cost technologies for rice farmers to feed all Filipinos as stated on
Executive Order 1061. A brief welcome to the group with a series of audio-visual
presentation was followed by a tour to the machine show room. Machines such as drum
seeder, two wheel tractors, combines, and others such as bricketter and rice hull
furnace are on their showroom. They also showed their dryer and rice hull gasifier. As a
bioprocessing and agricultural engineering major student, it is noticeable that the design
of the flat bed dryer which is inefficient yet they claim that it has high efficiency and can
accommodate high capacity of 6 inches depth of about 20 m 2 area. Their massive
gasifier can also produce electricity (about 50 light bulbs) from rice hull (about a ton or
two). Almost all the machine shown was ordinarily seen on the AMDP. Although not too
impressive, the tour is good for it exposed the group to existing machines, which, in the
future, could be improved for the benefit of the rice farmer.
Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization or PhilMech
(formerly known as Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension or BPRE) was the
next stop for the group. it is another attached agency in Department of Agriculture. The
group was welcomed with an audio-visual presentation and a forum which they
encourage the audience to ask question that is related to their interest or to their thesis.
Several questions were addressed by our group specifically regarding their existing
researches on cashew, cassava peeler, and image analysis on root crops. Other
questions addressed by Benguet State University (BSU) students were about charcoal
bricketting and forage chopper. The tour on their showroom was next after the forum.
They have several models and prototype of machines which is normally seen in UPLB
such as the flat bed dryer that is created by Dr. de Padua, the first dean of CEAT.
Questions were also entertained on the showroom regarding the prototypes.
For the group, the next location is Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural
Technology or PhilSCAT. It is located just near the PhilMech and it has vast land for
experimental rice varieties. PhilSCAT is a collaborative project between the Philippines
and the Peoples Republic of China. The group was welcomed with an audio-visual
presentation of what is PhilSCAT is and what they do. After the presentation and short

forum, they tour the group to their showrooms, warehouses, and experimental fields.
They have different machines (from pedal-operated plow and harrow to combines and
tractors) displayed on their showroom. Their warehouses contain post-harvest
machines such as large-scale rice milling that is about 3-storey high. It is very prevalent
that the machines and operation present on PhilSCAT is not that adapted to Philippine
condition. Rice varieties offered by PhilSCAT (Mestizo) provides high yield on the
farmers yet a drawback of rebuying seed of Mestizo variety for it does not produce a
good rice offspring for the next farming. Overall, the tour on PhilSCAT presented
machines and varieties which are made or adapted to different condition yet applied on
Philippine conditions which may affect the yield and losses.
A short tour to the large land area of CLSU or Central Luzon State University was
done by the group after PhilSCAT. They took their dinner and returned to PhilRice to
take a rest.
A rainy morning of Saturday started the day of the group which is bounded to the
Sta. Rita, Bulacan. SuperTrade is a distributor of agricultural machineries in the
Philippines. It has over a hundred authorized dealers nationwide. They provide quality
and durable products and after-sales services to users of their products. Their
warehouse welcomed the group with the pile of machines and a huge tractor near the
entrance of the complex. The company presented what SuperTrade is and what they do
on a visual presentation. They also provide support to university like UPLB as they
discussed. After, a tour on the operational set-up of the warehouse was done. They
showcase different imported farm machineries and convincingly compared it to locally
manufacture machines. The assemble machines on a batch-type manner where they
line-up about 15-20 disassembled machine which is to be assembled in ten days.
The company is also a distributor of motorcycle; they have a warehouse of about
a hundred or two full of motor cycle and motorcycle assembly system. On one part of
the complex, they also have stored secondhand two-wheel handtractors. Another part of
the complex is the warehouse of about a hundred of tractors and cars. They bragged
that they want a system that would supply their patrons in just a click of the fingers.
They had treated the group to a lunch and invited graduating students to be part of their

company. The company offered quality products and services that is ideal for
agricultural machines.
The group departed SuperTrade and proceed to Pasay to a supposedly
convention yet the attire of the student didnt fit on the dress code of the convention.
The group decided to have an hour gala period on SM Mall of Asia.
The trip had presented different machineries on each companies and offices
existing in the Philippines. It is a good tour because it let the students to welcome the
fact that after graduation, one of the companies might be their employer and it provides
a venue for improvement of existing farm machines and operations.