THE Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) held two events that introduced and promoted open-system farm machines to agricultural communities in the Philippines and Cambodia.
SEARCA Director Glenn Gregorio said these events were recently held in collaboration with Central Philippines State University (CPSU) in the Philippines and the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) in Cambodia.
"These events represent a crucial step toward modernizing agricultural practices in these regions," Gregorio said, adding that these initiatives also "underscore the importance of collaboration among the academe, industry and government in driving agricultural innovation."
He noted that SEARCA as a leading enabler continues to champion initiatives that foster innovation and community participation, aiming to modernize agriculture through advanced mechanization.
These events also mark a milestone in SEARCA's mission to promote agricultural modernization and highlight the transformative potential of open-system machinery in Southeast Asia.
Enhancing farm machinery with local innovations in the Philippines, the knowledge-sharing event took place in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, in June through a collaboration between SEARCA and CPSU.
The Sitio Flora Agrarian Reform Cooperative (Sfarc) was identified as a partner farmer group to test and improve the Bacolod-based RU Foundry-manufactured Oggun tractor.
During the event, a ceremonial signing of a memorandum of agreement was witnessed by representatives from Sfarc, CPSU, SEARCA and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Western Visayas.
Gregorio said this event highlighted CPSU's "Pandayan ng Bayan" program, promoting community-managed foundries and equipping farming communities with essential skills in forging tools and farming equipment.
The training was also provided by RU Foundry on the tractor's basic operation, management, repair and maintenance while the farmer representative had the opportunity to operate the tractor with support from RU Foundry's technical staff.
Representatives from DAR pledged support to ensure that the cooperative will effectively manage and maintain the tractor, generating income for future repairs and maintenance.
Also, in advancing vegetable transplanting technology in Cambodia, the knowledge-sharing event in May 2024 was held in Takeo province in partnership with the RUA.
Gregorio said the event highlighted the introduction of a no-till vegetable transplanter powered by a two-wheel tractor, which was designed to reduce the labor required for vegetable planting.
He said this innovative technology was showcased to net house vegetable planters who had the opportunity to see its operation firsthand.
Gregorio said RUA is currently conducting comparative studies to evaluate the performance of vegetables transplanted using the machine versus traditional manual transplanting methods.
"With the support of SEARCA, the technology was demonstrated to the local farming community, allowing farmers to operate the machine and provide valuable feedback for further improvements," he said.
"This machine can significantly reduce our workload and increase efficiency," a farmer participant said. "We look forward to seeing its impact on our vegetable production."
SEARCA is a nonprofit organization established in 1966 by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization or Seameo, an intergovernmental treaty body founded in 1965 to foster cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in the fields of education, science and culture.