A Turkish machinery manufacturer is designing a modern mechanized facility for postharvest rice operations of a pioneering agricultural service company in Mindoro.

This is the Agri-Tech Integrated Service Company (ATISCO) that is undertaking a corporative rice farming project in Oriental Mindoro in collaboration with the Land Bank that is providing financing at 6% interest per annum.

Dante Delima and other Atisco officials recently visited the Turkish manufacturer to discuss the design and costing of the postharvest facility. Delima said that the newly harvested grains by a combine harvester will be loaded without bagging to a truck that will unload the same to a temporary silo where the grains will be cleaned of debris and foreign matters.

Once the grains are cleaned, the same will be brought to the continuous-flow mechanical dryer which is situated just beside a silo where the dried grains will be directly delivered for storage. The stored dried palay will be milled on a first-in, first-out basis.

Atisco also plans to acquire what is called Steel Arch Building, a building without posts but which can withstand strong typhoons and other calamities. The building will house the compact LeeWha rice mill from Korea that will mill the rice.
The Steel Arch Building will also serve as storage for milled rice, farm equipment and others. In case of extreme situations due to bad weather, the building can serve as an emergency evacuation center.

By the way, the Turkish company, TECO, is represented in the Philippines and Southeast Asia by Agri Component Corporation with Eugene Gabriel as operations manager. Atisco executives and those of Agricomp recently travelled together to confer with the TECO officials in connection with the postharvest facility.