Corn Farmer Becomes Rich through Service Providing
In these days when production costs soar and credits are tight, creditors would rarely trust someone, especially a farmer with millions worth of credit without a collateral. But they do, and the lucky farmer is Carlos G. Guevarra of Barangay Anao, Mexico, Pampanga.
Feed millers, seed dealers, and farm supply dealers go to his doorstep and offer credits without him asking for these. All they want from him is his commitment of repayment, which he has never reneged for more than a decade of farming. For him, a man’s word is his honor, and he is true to his word.
This has won him the trust of creditors and fellow farmers. If not for their trust, Mang Caloy, as he is called by his neighbors, wouldn’t be well off now for all that he had more than a decade ago was just a two-hectare farm planted to rice, green corn, and vegetables.
He started to prosper when he allotted his whole land to yellow corn production as suggested by the technicians of Department of Agriculture (DA). And although yellow corn production was new and there was no Bt Corn then, Mang Caloy’s average yield of 6 to 8 tons per hectare was up to the standard.
Since yellow corn production was profitable, he leased another 2 ha and earned double from this. He continued leasing more and more lands and he was earning bigger and bigger profits. Having a larger area to prepare, he then thought of buying a four-wheel tractor.
Shopping for a tractor in Tarlac, Mang Caloy met again the man whom he has helped in 1991 when Mt. Pinatubo erupted. He assisted the man and his family when their car broke down along the road near his place. The man happened to be the manager of the tractor outlet and he remembered Mang Caloy. Pleased with his kindness, the manager offered him a tractor and primary tillage equipment without a down payment; he would just pay for these when able to.
Mang Caloy was really very fortunate because aside from easily acquiring a tractor, it also led him to another profitable business and that is service providing.
By being a service provider, he had a bigger income, enabling him to buy farm equipment every year and open other business. To date, he has four big Ford four-wheeler tractors, two mobile corn shellers, two ten-wheeler hauling trucks, three service cars, a gasoline station, and a grocery store proofs that he is now a millionaire!
Knowing that the trust and confidence of creditors in him do not extend to his fellow farmers, Mang Caloy shares his blessings to them. Without a written contract, just relying on his trust and confidence in them, he prepares fields; provides seeds, fertilizers, and postharvest facilities; and hauls their produce to feed millers.
Mang Caloy finds satisfaction in doing these; he is happy to see those whom he has helped prosper and able to send their children to school.
Due to his involvement in the development of corn areas in Mexico and neighboring municipalities in Pampanga, he had been repeatedly named as outstanding corn farmer at the municipal, provincial, and regional levels. The highest honor he received so far was the Gawad Saka Award as the most outstanding corn farmer of the county for 2005, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself awarded to him. He also received a cash prize, postharvest facilities, and a million-peso assistance from DA.
Because of his achievements, he was featured in agribusiness shows and radio programs. DA even published and disseminated a comic book based on his life. He was also invited as speaker in farmers’ fora.
With all the things that happened in his life, Mang Caloy has this to say: A man’s word is his honor and he can help anyone if he is true to his word.
