AMTEC [Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center, College, Laguna, Philippines] performance rating system a guiding tool in the appropriate selection of agricultural machinery

The Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC) has come up with a machinery Performance Rating System which will guide the prospective users in the selection of agricultural machinery according to tested performance. The Performance Rating System was developed by AMTEC in consultation with the Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers and Dealers Association, Inc. (AAMDA). The system gives machines a rating in the scale of 2-10. A rating of '6' implies that the machine just meet the minimum requirements. A rating above '6' implies above minimum performance and below '6' implies below minimum performance. The parameters in the system are based mostly on Philippine Agricultural Engineering Standards and if there are no established standards yet, they are based on test data of AMTEC. As an initial output, AMTEC has come up with three catalogues of AMTEC-tested machines. These catalogues contain machines tested from 1993-2003. They contain information on the machines and rating points based on the AMTEC Performance Rating System. Based on the catalogues, 46% of engines and 40% of hand tractors tested were within and above the minimum requirement. While for Centrifugal pumps, 72.6% of bare pumps and 32.4% of pump-sets were within and above the minimum requirements. For dryers and rice mills, 66.7% and 41.7% were within and above the minimum requirements, respectively. These data are very useful to the prospective buyers/end-users of agricultural machines. In general, the Performance Rating System can improve the energy use efficiency of machines being used, since it recommends those machines whose performance rating are within and above the minimum requirements. For the manufacturers, if their machines are below the minimum requirements they will not be able to sell their machines unless they make some improvements to meet/pass the minimum requirements.