PMA graduate succeeds in farming

By Sosimo Ma. Pablico

It seems difficult to believe but it’s true that a senior superintendent in the Philippine National Police (equivalent to colonel in the Army, is also a successful rice farmer and now assured of a comfortable retirement life 11 years hence when he turns 55 years old.

He is P/Sr Supt Valfrie Tabian of the regional PNP command in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy in 1986. A police superintendent for 10 years, he was promoted to senior police superintendent only a year ago.

He started farming in 1998 when he was already a police superintendent. The lure of farming attracted him at a much younger age, having been raised in the farm himself.

Although he longed earlier to go back to the farm, there was just no way for him to do so when he was still a junior officer. 

After graduation, he was hopping from one assignment to another as in upper and lower Kalinga, Pampanga, Manila, Isabela and now Cagayan. It was only when he was promoted to police superintendent that he could already spare some time for farming, as he was already   limited to office functions. He can now have the weekends totally farm work whenever there are no military operations.

From 10.7 hectares (ha) two years ago, his farm size has already greatly increased to 37 ha.  This is because he has used much of his farm income in mortgaging lands within the vicinity of his farm at 50,000 to 80,000 a hectare. He has also bought a few hectares. 

Two years after we visited him for the first time, a number of infrastructures are now visible in his original farm. The farm shed, which was open on its sides, is now a concrete structure with a dining area, kitchen, toilet and bathroom. Even at a distance, one can already notice an enclosed structure near the road, which is actually a warehouse with a capacity to contain 800 bags. 

The harvest is brought here initially for drying during good weather at the solar dryer which was constructed between the farm shed and the warehouse. Grains intended for seeds are brought later to a rented warehouse near their family house for cleaning and processing before storage. 

Val now also has two cargo trucks, which are used for transporting his produce, especially certified seeds, to the Cagayan Seed Growers Cooperative where he is now one of the members of its board of directors. For two years now, Val has been into hybrid and inbred rice production after going through a rigorous training course for would-be seed growers. 

He is now recognized as one of the top inbred seed producers in Cagayan, having produced almost 3,000 bags of certified seeds last summer. A bag sells at P850. In other words, his gross income would be 2.55 million if everything is sold as seeds. 

Likewise, Val has started to mechanize his farm. He already has five hand tractors ranging from 7 hp to 12.5 hp. His four farm caretakers, including Mario Jose, his classmate in the elementary grades, have been trained to operate the hand tractors as part of their roles in the farm.  For an efficient cleaning of seeds, he had a blower-cleaner fabricated by a local artisan using a junked air-con blower, which he bought from a junk shop at 1,000. The machine uses a brand new 1.5 hp electric motor, which he bought at 4,000. 

Val has also wanted to mechanize the harvesting of his crop, but the mini-combine harvester that he intended to buy from a manufacturer in Isabela never worked well. He said the longest period of operation before the machine broke down was two years. The most recent delivery lasted for only one day. 

To make sure that his certified seeds are stored with the right moisture content, he has also bought from a farmer in Enrile town a second-hand mechanical dryer with a 120 bag capacity in 6 to 8 hours. The acquisition cost was 200,000 payable in monthly installment. And to ensure that there is sufficient irrigation water for his plants, he has put up a submersible pump in his original farm and shallow tube wells in six other locations where he draws water using portable water pumps.

The electric consumption of the submersible pump, 37,000 a year, is quite expensive, “but I sacrificed somehow because there is no irrigation system in Tuao and it really pays,” he said.

Indeed, his lowest yield so far has been 120 bags a hectare, while the highest has already reached 160 bags a hectare.  It’s great lift from his initial harvest when he was still grappling with the new technology.

Furthermore, he has been into the application of organic fertilizer, using bat manure applied at 5 to 10 days before transplanting. One problem with bat manure, he said, is that there is not much supply. Thus, he has made an order of 200 bags of Durabloom bio-organic fertilizer. 

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/harvest-time/)

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