Engr. Raymund Macaranas of the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) shows the tubers of KU-50 cassava variety that were dug from the soil using a cassava digger attached to a tractor. Macaranas and his team of agricultural engineers from PhilMech’s Agricultural Mechanization Division have developed a prototype of a cassava digger which can be attached to a 45-hp to 90-hp tractor for efficient harvesting of cassava tubers. The prototype can dig up to 30-centimeter deep in a single row and can harvest up to three hectares a day. The cassava digger, which is currently undergoing field tests at a cooperator’s farm in Pampanga, can reduce harvest losses down to two percent.–by Melpha M. Abello