ICIERD gears up La Union softbroom and beekeeping industries

The two-year old  Ilocos Consortium for Industry and Energy Research and Development completed two PCIERD-funded projects such as "Tiger Grass Flower Pollen Remover Convertible to Palay Thresher" and "Development of Honey Extractor Machine: Support to the Apiculture Industry", both implemented by consortium member Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University.

Beekeeping and soft broom making are considered backyard industries in La Union but demand for the products are high at any time.  This prompted DMMMSU to improve the production equipment for both industries.

For the soft broom or "walis tambo", the project focused on the process of removing flower pollen of matured tiger grass.  The traditional process requires intensive labor and time because it is done through shaking and brushing the flower stalks against walls, tree trunks, and any hard surface, which also cause air pollution.

A prototype tiger flower pollen remover that doubles as palay thresher was fabricated out of local materials.  The design follows that an axial rice thresher.  Operation can be manual or by a 1-Hp motor.  The device can be assembled or disassembled to allow easy transport from one place to another.

As tiger grass flower remover, the device can remove flower pollen of 100 grass stalks in five minutes without any broken stalks.  It does the job in three minutes with three broken stalks manually or motor operated.

In the traditional process, removal of flower pollen for similar quantity takes 20 minutes with two broken stalks. 

Meanwhile, as palay thresher operated manually by two persons, the device can process 10 sacks of palay every hour.  It can churn 15 cavans in an hour when motor-powered.

Functionality and efficiency have been tested several times based on recommendations of local broom makers who previously tested the equipment.

The Burgos Municipal Tribal Council Multi-Purpose Cooperative bought the device just a month after the pilot test.

As for the beekeeping industry, it was stuck with an inefficient aging extracting machine acquired from a foreign entity.  DMMMSU intervention was to develop an efficient version of the machine with the possibility of mass producing innovation to enhance production output.

Members of La Union Bee Association maintain an average of 10 colonies and each colony can produce an average of 14 honey frames.  Each frame can yield nine 230ml bottles, each costs P80.00.

Honey extraction, which includes gathering, scraping, and extraction are tedious tasks and labor intensive. 

The extractor is the heart of the extraction line.  Although every piece in the equipment is important, the extractor is always the central piece of the equipment.  A lot of extractors were developed but these either posed health hazards or made of inappropriate materials. 

On the other hand, LUBAI's existing extracting machine acquired from the Canadian government is manually operated with a lever arm and gear to gear system which requires ample amount of power to maintain operation.  It needs a lot of design improvement because gear oil spills to extracted honey.

The DMMMSU-designed extractor solves the oil-spill problem.  It copies the same operation system but incorporates several gear shifting methods.  It features oil-sealed gear system to prevent leak. 

The design will provide an option for mechanization and time and speed automation.  The research will determine the optimum speed that the machine can extract maximum volume of honey without damaging the honeycomb.

The DMMMSU extractor shall be screwed to pipe body frame as well as its mechanism attachments for easier transport.  The mechanisms inside the machine where the honey will come into direct contact is food grade stainless steel to optimize hygiene measures.  Mass production is planned and LUBAI will pilot-test freshly-built machines.