THERE is money in agriculture, an official told young entrepreneurs.
Apple Layon, of the Cebu City Agriculture Department (CAD), said that as long as the new breed of farmers or the young aspiring agri-preneurs would incorporate modern technology in their farming methods, “no family would be hungry.”
“Agriculture is a profitable business venture,” she said.
Layon said the agency has been working hard in equipping farmers in Cebu with the right skills, technique and technology for them to be competitive and to increase their farm production.
Recently, CAD recognized 10 outstanding farmers from various barangays. They were Patricio Damaolao of Barangay Cambinocot and Teofanes Alivio of Barangay Tabunan who were named Outstanding Vegetable Growers 2012; Florencia Pepito of Barangay Mabini as Outstanding Agri-Entrepreneur; Eduardo Trazona Jr., of Barangay Adlaon as Outstanding Livestock Raiser; Leonides Labrador of Barangay Babag as Outstanding Cutflower Grower; Elenita Arevalo of Brgy. Cambinocot as Outstanding Rice Grower; Gemma Arcayan of Barangay Adlaon as Outstanding Corn Grower; and Leopoldo Cabase of Barangay Bonbon as Outstanding Mango Grower.
The COBCAWA Rural Improvement Club of Barangay Adlaon was recognized as the Outstanding Rural Improvement Club while Sitio Maraag Sudlon II Farmers Association of Barangay Sudlon II was hailed the Outstanding Farmers’ Association.
Layon said the search is an annual activity of CAD to give recognition to farmers who manifested exemplary performance in farming. She said this is also one way of promoting agriculture as a profitable endeavor especially among the younger generation.
The awardees were nominated by their respective barangay councils and went through a series of evaluations.
“They have four things in common. They all are innovative, receptive to technology, risk taker and most importantly, they have treated farming as an enterprise,” she said.
These winners are among those farmers in Cebu that supply high-value crops to various hotels and restaurants in the city. They have adopted both the conventional and organic farming methods.
One of the awardees is Labrador who used to be in vegetable farming and swine raising before he ventured into the flower business.
Layon said Labrador had less than a hectare of land to cultivate for his mums flower production but because of his hard work, innovation and adoption of technology, he was able to expand his production area, which now covers three to four hectares. He now employs 20 workers.
The rise of hotels in the city and the high market demand for flowers, especially during special occasions, enabled him to increase his flower production.
According to Layon, Labrador can harvest 10,000 bundles of mums in three months and sell these at P78 per bundle. His market, which used to be limited to Cebu, has now expanded to areas like Bacolod, Iloilo and Manila.
“Indeed, there is money in agriculture,” Layon said.
Layon described Labrador as an innovative farmer. He came up with his own design of a trellis (a structure to support growing flowers or climbing plants) that is movable, allowing him to re-use them after every cycle, unlike the common practice of building one every cycle.
“We were impressed because we thought it would be us who would introduce the technology. But he thought of it himself,” said Layon. “It actually made the work easy and helps minimize cost.”
CAD is supporting farmers though technology assistance and initial inputs such as providing fertilizers. They also help farmers in marketing their produce and linking
them with potential business partners.
“The department is focused on agri-development production and marketing,” said Layon.
One of technologies they extended to farmers is plastic mulch that is used to suppress weeds and conserve water in crop production.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) also partnered with CAD in awarding the grant of P3.7 million for the two units of an agricultural tramline services for Brgys. Sudlon I and Tabunan.
The tramline system is a hauling facility similar to that of a zipline that uses cables and pulleys to transport agricultural products and farm outputs from isolated areas to the nearest roads.
Layon said this cuts transport cost to half at P0.50 per kilogram. Traditional manual transport costs P1 per kilo.