IN AREAS where there are no roads nor would be too costly to construct one, farmers are now literally “clinging on” agricultural tramlines.

Made of steel cable, pulleys and steel cage as “cable car” or carriage, a tramline has become a cheaper, more efficient and faster mode of transporting farm products from isolated areas to the nearest road onto trading posts or public markets.

Thanks to the ingenuity of Department of Agriculture (DA) engineers, particularly at the Philippine Center for Post harvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), formerly known as the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE).

“Agricultural tramlines are indeed more cost-efficient than constructing farm-to-market roads (FMRs),” said Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, who led the recent inauguration of the 53rd DA-PhilMech tramline at Sitio Bawek, Barangay Twin Peaks, in the town of Tuba, Benguet.

“Mas mura ang tramline kumpara sa FMR, at madali pang matapos,” added Sec. Alcala. (A tramline is cheaper and faster to complete than an FMR.)

The Twin Peaks tramline benefits two dozen farm-families, who plant 25 hectares to snap beans, garden peas, gabi and ube (yam), ginger, banana, mango, and vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. The Twin Peaks farmers’ association is headed by Tirso Torres, who added that their current total farmed area could still be expanded by an additional 15 hectares.

During pre-tramline years, Torres said they manually carry their products on their back, painstakingly trekking a four-kilometer mountain trail for two to three hours up to the nearest drop off point along Kennon Road. Others hire ‘kargadors’ or porters for a fee of P2 per kilo or P100 for a 50-kilo sack of various products.

Now with the tramline, travel time is cut to merely three to five minutes, covering a distance of 452 meters, between the unloading area near Kennon Road and the loading area atop a hill.

Further, Twin Peaks farmers can now save in terms of porters’ fees, equivalent to P700 per trip, as the tramline can carry up to 350 kilos of various farm products.

The tramline—constructed in October 2010 and completed three months later in December—is a joint undertaking of the DA-PhilMech with the Municipality of Tuba and Twin Peaks farmers’ association, said PhilMech Director Ricardo Cachuela.

Also present during the inauguration were Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan, Benguet Rep. Ronald Cosalan, Tuba Municipal Mayor Florencio Bentrez, newly-appointed DA-Cordillera Administrative Region director Marilyn Sta. Catalina, Tuba local officials and farmer-beneficiaries.

Tramline project leader Bartolome Tesorero, Jr. said the DA-PhilMech will put up 54 more units nationwide by year-end. These will feature ‘double-decker’ carriages that can also ferry people, particularly during emergency situations.

Tesorero said they have already four prototypes with modified carriages, which can carry up to 500 kilos, composed of both farm products (weighing at least 260 kilos) and up to four persons, weighing an average of 60 kilos each. The modified tramline will be launched in Sariaya, Quezon next month.