Agriculture Business Week

After graduation, most college graduates would look for an office job that would assure them of a stable employment until retirement time. That’s not the case, however, with 38-year-old Pedro “Jun” Perez of Tiaong, Quezon who finished a medical technology course in a college in Laguna. After graduation, he volunteered his services to the Red Cross but that lasted for only three months. Deep inside him, he felt he was not cut to become an employee. He was sure his heart was in farming.

And so he went back to Tiaong and started to be some sort of an entrepreneur in farming. He got himself into spraying mangoes of other people’s trees. He also managed rented citrus farms. He fondly remembers a rented citrus farm planted to some 5,000 trees that were not fruiting well. He rented the farm for P700,000 for five years.

What Jun did was to analyze the soil so he could provide the right fertilizers. He found that the soil needed more nitrogen, potassium and microelements. After providing the right elements, the trees became productive and by the second harvest, the P700,000 rent was more than recovered.

He had a profitable operation but in 1999, he shifted his interest to high value vegetables. He thought that concentrating on vegetables had many advantages over citrus production. And he was right. The idea came when he planted a small portion of his farm to Jade Star ampalaya from East-West Seed Company. He remembers very well that while the price at that time was only P8 per kilo, he made a handsome profit because the ampalaya was very prolific.

Cash flow from ampalaya and other vegetables is continuous. Every few days, the fruits are harvested and that’s money constantly coming in.

He also planted several other varieties, including Sinta papaya, and he found them to be equally good money-makers. He remembers very well the six kilos of seeds of the Maranao variety of stringbeans from Allied Botanical Corporation which he planted towards the end of 2006 on 9,000 square meters. From that crop, he harvested 13 tons in a matter of about four months which he sold at P20 to P22 per kilo. There were times when he harvested every day, at other times every two days. Usually, he got 600 kilos when he harvested every two days. There was, however, a time when he got 900 kilos in one picking.

Jun’s farming operation is highly profitable because he practices natural farming techniques which do not require the application of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. That particular stringbean crop was never applied with chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

He only applies chemical sprays when it is extremely necessary. Just like his standing crop of ampalaya grown in a half hectare portion of his 3.8-hectare farm. He was forced to spray the young ampalaya plants with a fungicide when he observed Cercospora disease infection. And that was the only time he ever sprayed his ampalaya with chemical. The crop is very robust and productive during our visit. He had just finished harvesting 300 kilos of fruits. That was just his third harvest, still very small. By the succeeding harvests, he expects to pick much more. During the crop’s peak production, he is very positive he would be picking at least one ton every four days.

To keep his ampalaya plants robust, he applies a liberal amount of old chicken manure on his planting beds during land preparation. Then he sustains his plants by a weekly spraying of FAA or fish amino acid and IMO or indigenous micro-organism. These are preparations which even the most ordinary farmer can make. FAA and IMO don’t only provide needed nutrients for plant growth, they also protect the plants from harmful disease organisms.

FAA and IMO are products of simple fermenting techniques. FAA is nothing but fermented juice of fish scraps readily available from fish vendors in public and private markets. These are taken from the gills and innards of fish that are usually thrown away. To produce FAA, take a certain amount, say five kilos of fish scraps. Put this in a clay pot or some other suitable container. Add to it molasses of the same weight, keep the container covered, and put the same in a shady place. It could be in a corner of the house or under a tree. After seven days, collect the juice from container. Strain it so only the liquid is collected. That’s already the FAA.

Jun sprays his vegetables with FAA by mixing two tablespoons with a liter of water. He sprays this weekly with IMO which is also another product of simple fermentation.

Besides growing his crops in his own farm, Jun rents other people’s farms to grow various crops. For instance, he recently planted 1,600 Sinta papaya on a rented land not far from his place. He chooses farms that are near a source of water, such as a river, to make sure he has enough irrigation water to sustain his plants.

He also practices crop rotation to avoid build up of disease organisms in a certain place. For instance, he will plant stringbeans shortly in the portion where he had previously produced papaya. Other crops he grows are tomato and eggplant. He has also devoted a small portion of his farm to mahogany trees. Under the trees, it is possible to grow free-range chickens.

That is another possibility for this college graduate who opted to be a faming entrepreneur.