UBAY, Bohol, June 1 (PIA) -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 7 delivered the government’s commitment to reduce rice production losses with a modern P51 million disaster-proof monolithic dome rice seed storage facility it built in Bohol.

Built inside the a government property dedicated to agriculture development and research, the rice seed storage facility is better than the seven conventional seed storage facilities in the Central Visayas, according to the DA7.

The facility uses a dome type of roof, reinforced with iron rebars and polyethylene caulked by airfoam technology that has been designed to withstand 270-kilometer winds.

It is built to withstand typhoons, earthquakes, and other natural or man-made calamities including fire, and could potentially safe-keep harvests against calamities as long as it is stowed inside the facility, said Jenelyn Yuson, builder of the multi-million facility.

To be built and completed by Dazzling Lite Enterprises after 25 calendar days, the monolithic dome is a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved, certified disaster-proof facility.

Designed to maintain an internal storage with near zero temperatures, the facility can store around 40,000 bags of rice seeds, enough for two cropping seasons requirement for Central Visayas, said DA-7 Regional Executive Director Joe Elumba.

The facility came as a solution to the government’s need to preposition good quality seeds with high germination rate and can be planted anytime of the year.

DA-7 has to distribute good quality rice seeds to the four provinces of Central Visayas, with Bohol having the biggest requirement, DA said.

Putting the facility in Ubay, one of the largest rice producing towns in Bohol, makes farmers’ access to the seeds strategic.

What the facility can do is make quality rice seeds accessible to farmers anytime of the year, said Elumba.

With climate change making cropping seasons unpredictable, farmers are now planting as soon as the rains come, and prepositioning good quality seeds is critical, he added.

Also, without the proper storage, seeds deteriorate fast and the germination is severely affected, resulting to huge losses.

Rice seeds are ideally stored in 25 degrees Celsius or below, and one degree increase in temperature above 25 is 3% loss in germination efficiency.

In the region's seven conventional seed storage facilities, the temperature fluctuates from 25 to 33 degrees, racking in almost 45% of losses in harvest, said Roden Guinto, Dazzling Lite’s consultant.

The new facility in Bohol is the country’s biggest and the first in Central Visayas. (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)