Rice Machinery Requirement in La Union, Philippines: A Basis for Prioritizing Deployment

The implementation of the Republic Act No. 11203 mandates the development of a just and appropriate agricultural mechanization strategy. Thus, this study is conceptualized to calculate the rice machinery requirement and the mechanization level of La Union, Philippines. The utilization rate of existing machinery considers 100% and 70% in case the calculation is surplus. Furthermore, this aims to validate if there is no machinery requirement despite the 30% decrease in utilization rate. Hence, the results have revealed a need for 674 units of riding-type transplanters, 31 units of a rice combine harvester, 422 units of recirculating dryers, and 61 units of multi-pass rice mills. The rice mechanization level is moderately mechanized. However, only tillage operation is moderately mechanized; the transplanting, harvesting, drying and milling are low mechanised. These findings could serve as bases in the formulation of policies and strategies prioritizing suitable areas for machinery intervention in the province.