THE use of soybean sorter developed by the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) is helping farmers produce cleaner grains, improve product quality, and increase the market value of their harvest.
PHilMech Agricultural Mechanization Division Researcher Donald Mateo said that only about 5 percent of the country’s soybean requirement is locally produced partly due to lack of postharvest technologies.
“One of the issues we identified is the lack of technical support for postharvest handling, which discourages farmers from continuing soybean production,” he said.
“During our field visits, some farmers also said younger people are reluctant to work with soybeans because the crop can cause skin irritation, and these challenges have contributed to the decline of soybean production in the Philippines,” Mateo added.
This prompted PHilMech researchers to develop a soybean sorter that can improve grain cleaning and sorting to support farmers of the crop.
Mateo explained that farmers often experience price deductions when soybean harvests contain dirt, weed seeds, and damaged grains, making proper cleaning and sorting essential before selling their produce.
“The main benefit is immediately felt by farmers because when the product is clean, buyers no longer deduct from its price since dirty products are usually discounted in the market, allowing farmers to earn better and become more confident in selling their produce,” he emphasized.
The soybean sorter cleans, sorts, and grades grains by separating them according to size while removing impurities through perforated screens and a blower system that filters out unwanted materials.
Two people can operate the machine and can process 700 to 850 kilograms of soybeans per hour, significantly faster than manual sorting methods such as slanted plywood boards locally known as “paligid.”
Mateo explained that unlike mungbean or monggo, which matures in stages and requires multiple harvesting, soybean pods mature almost simultaneously once the plant turns yellow and leaves fall, allowing farmers to harvest the entire plant at once.
He added that the sorter separates soybeans into different size grades while removing impurities and weed seeds, although it cannot distinguish fermented or discolored grains. Also, uniform grain size is important for processors to ensure consistent roasting quality.
PHilMech also promotes youth participation in agricultural mechanization through its Youth for Mechanization advocacy while continuing to showcase technologies that help uplift and ease the workloads of Filipino farmers across Central Luzon.
