December 17, 2020. By virtue of the Agricultural and Fisheries Mechanization Law of 2013, the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) is mandated to develop standards specifications and test procedures for agricultural and fisheries machinery and structures as well as to update all existing Philippine Agricultural Engineering Standards (PAES).
Upon the implementation of the said law, DA-BAFS started its work on standards development for different agricultural and fisheries machinery and structures, in coordination with relevant government agencies, private sectors, and academe. To date, the Bureau was able to develop 58 Philippine National Standards/Philippine Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Standards (PNS/PABES) for agri-fishery machinery and structures. Thirty-six (36) of these standards are for postharvest machinery, 17 for irrigation, two for production machinery, two for agricultural structures, and one for general use
These standards were developed in accordance with the Bureau’s standards development process and in compliance with international standardization practices, ensuring its quality and reliability. Experts and relevant stakeholders were consulted during the development process to ensure that there is consensus among all parties that are likely to be affected by the standards.
PNS/PABES, though voluntary in nature, may be used in different areas especially on the field of agricultural and fisheries mechanization. It may be adopted as technical regulations by the DA-Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE) and other relevant regulatory agencies as well as basis for the implementation of relevant guidelines and policies. The Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC) of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), as the designated testing agency in the country, uses PNS/PABES as reference on the conduct of testing and evaluation of agricultural and fisheries machinery. The academe, on the other hand, may use these standards as reference for the study of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE). Similarly, PNS/PABES may be used by ABEs in the practice of their profession.
In collaboration with its partner agencies, BAFS continues to fulfill its mandate to help the country’s agriculture and fishery sectors in improving and ensuring the quality and safety of agricultural and fisheries machinery and structures that will be used by our Filipino farmers, thereby aiding in securing higher production and better income.