SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ — The Department of Science and Technology–Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC) promotes its rice transplanter attachment for hand tractors to help farmers reduce labor costs and improve productivity in rice farming.
DOST-MIRDC Senior Science Research Specialist Rey Mariposque said the Rice Transplanter Attachment was developed in partnership with the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization as a technology that can be mounted on common hand tractors used in rice fields.
He explained that farmers traditionally use hand tractors for land preparation and transporting harvested rice, and the innovation now allows them to also use the same machine for transplanting.
Mariposque added that the attachment maximizes the utilization of existing farm equipment, making hand tractors more versatile and efficient.
He shared that instead of hiring 14 workers for manual transplanting, farmers only need two people—one operator and one helper—when using the attachment.
“Farmers shared that they previously struggled to source labor and often had to wait for other fields to be planted before workers became available. With the transplanter, only two people are needed—usually the farmer as the operator and a family member to load the seedlings—making planting easier and encouraging younger family members to see that farming is no longer purely manual and physically demanding,” Mariposque said.
Field tests conducted in Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and Nueva Vizcaya show that the machine can transplant up to 1.6 hectares in seven hours of operation.
Farmers who tested the technology also reported at least a 12 percent increase in yield due to uniform planting based on Philippine Agricultural Engineering Standards.
He noted that the attachment is more affordable than imported ride-on transplanters and can be mounted on at least nine-horsepower hand tractors following International Rice Research Institute design standards.