The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is turning over a tractor made in Bacolod City to a farmer’s cooperative in southern Negros Occidental on Tuesday, February 27.
The tractor made by RU Foundry and Machine Corp. uses 70 percent locally produced parts, Ramon Uy Sr., the firm’s head, said Saturday.
The tractor that was purchased by SEARCA will be turned over to the Sitio Flora Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative in Barangay Hilamonan, Kabankalan City.
The locally produced tractor was developed by RU Foundry based on a US firm’s open system design that does not require payment of royalties for reproduction, Uy said.
They improved on the US design to enable the tractor to adopt to the hilly terrain of Philippine farms, he said.
The tractor design is very simple, it allows farmers to repair it on their own without having to buy expensive imported parts required by foreign made tractors, Uy said.
The target is to ultimately ensure that the 90 percent of the tractor is locally made, he said.
Dr. Aladino Moraca, president of the Central Philippines State University (CPSU) in Kabankalan City, said CPSU in partnership with RU Foundry is also developing a third generation tractor to further upgrade the design.
They are observing the performance on the ground of the second generation tractor produced by RU Foundry to see how it can be further improved, Moraca said.
The cooperative that will be the recipient of the SEARCA donated tractor produces vegetables that it supplies to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Moraca said.
The cooperative is being assisted by the Department of Agrarian Reform and CPSU.
RU Foundry had also provided the cooperative with its initial supply of earthworms for its compost, Moraca said.*