By Hilda Austria/Philippine News Agency
BAYAMBANG, Pangasinan — Some 300 hectares of farmlands here have been planted using mechanized farming this cropping season, the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) of this town revealed.
Municipal Agriculturist Artemio Buezon, in an interview Friday, said they target to plant using planter machines on 500 hectares of land here.
Buezon said the town has three planters; one from the Department of Agriculture given to a seed grower association in the town while the other two are bought by Mayor Cezar Quiambao.
“We have scheduled the farmers per barangay in order to accommodate all of them, but only those whose farmlands have water irrigation were allowed to use the planter,” he said.
Buezon disclosed that with a planter machine, a one hectare of land can be planted within an hour whereas with the traditional planting, a hectare will take a day to finish.
“In one day, it can finish planting in ten hectares of land, especially if the farmlands are within nearby proximity. It also saves manpower, as it only needs at least one person who will operate the machine, whereas a traditional planting would require 15-20 persons to plant in a hectare of land,” he explained.
The expenses for the fuel of the machine are shouldered by the farmers, although it will only cost two liters per hectare, Buezon added.
“We are encouraging farmers to use mechanized farming as it is more economical and efficient,” he said.
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