Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) recently signed a technology transfer agreement with an agricultural machine shop to fabricate and commercialize the Institute’s developed machines.
“[Within this agreement], PhilRice becomes the first agency to be issued a Fairness Opinion Report facilitated by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Region 3. It’s not an easy task because four technologies were evaluated,” Leidi Mel B. Sicat, OIC Provincial Science and Technology Director in Nueva Ecija, said.
Under the Republic Act 10055 or the Technology Transfer Act of 2009, technologies funded by the Philippine government are subject to a Fairness Opinion Board (FOB) review and report to determine the fairness of the transaction to the government.
The agreement grants the Val-Agri Machineries to manufacture the PhilRice-developed microtiller, laboy tiller, reversible flatbed dryer, and seed cleaner, which can reduce farm expenses on land preparation and post-harvest activities.
Microtiller is a piece of lightweight equipment used for tilling small-sized paddies, while laboy tiller is intended for land preparation particularly for puddling soil with deep hardened depth.
The reversible dryer is a batch type mechanical dryer used to dry grains by introducing heated air at the bottom layer of the grains and then reversing the flow of the heated air at the later part of the drying process. Meanwhile, seed cleaner is used to remove foreign materials from the seed mass.
The said technologies, which are the first to undergo a FOB evaluation, are regarded in the scientific community, including the developers some of whom are conferred scientists by the DOST’s Scientific Career Council. PhilRice Intellectual Property Management under the Business Development Division is likewise known as one of the most prolific and reliable patent agents in the industry.
The agreement was signed by Dr. John C. de Leon, PhilRice executive director, and Engr. Roman S. Lugto, Val-Agri Machineries proprietor.
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