MINERVA BC NEWMAN
CEBU CITY – The Department of Agriculture (DA)-Regional Field Office VII has just unveiled this month the first biggest rice seed storage facility in the country and in Central Visayas located in Ubay, Bohol, a monolithic dome-shaped structure worth P51 million with a storage capacity of one million kilograms of rice seeds or 40,000 bags of hybrid and 5,000 bags of inbred rice seeds.
DA-7 data showed that Bohol
has more than 54,000 hectares of rice areas that need enormous storage for rice
seeds. The recommended storing temperature of rice seeds is at 50 degrees
Fahrenheit or 10 degrees Celcius for satisfactory rice storage and this can be
achieved with the monolithic dome.
Central Visayas has seven
storage buildings with costly maintenance for the building and electricity. On the other hand, the monolithic dome can
reduce the ambient temperature to 20 times lower, has low maintenance, and has
a low carbon footprint- a requirement for the global standard of buildings,
Elumba bared.
Yu, chief of the Regional Agricultural Engineering Division of the DA-7 cited that the 24-meter diameter and 10-meter height structure can withstand tornadoes, earthquakes, manmade disasters, fire, termites, and rot.
Yu said, the facility is built out of concrete foundations, used a dome type of roof, reinforced with iron rebars and polyethylene caulked by airfoam technology that has been designed to withstand 270-kilometer winds.
Elumba added that the facility has been designed to maintain an internal storage with near zero temperatures. It can store about 40,000 bags of rice seeds, enough for two cropping seasons requirement for the Central Visayas rice farmers.
Done in 25 days, the monolithic dome which was inflated on June 1, 2022 would be reinforced with iron rebars and airfoam and start to operate soon. DA-7 hoped that with this facility, 40 percent losses of harvest due to deteriorated rice seeds can now be avoided. (Photos: DA-7 FB)
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