Accounting graduate finds a niche in farming

By Sosimo Ma. Pablico

A good number of non-agriculture graduates have ventured into farming and eventually succeeded. One of them is Crispina “Tayan” Leoncito of Carmen, North Cotabato, 44, an accounting clerk at her town’s local government unit earning subsistence pay before she joined her husband in Subic, Olongapo, Zambales where he was a naval architect at the US Naval Base.

Soon after the Americans returned the naval base to the Philippines she went back to Carmen where 4 hectares (ha) of corn land were mortgaged to her in 1992. With PhP40,000 borrowed from her brother-in-law, she started farming while at the same engaging in small scale farm financing, providing production loans to corn farmers.

Tayan said that although she was using a bicycle as her service vehicle to get to her borrowers, she also found that her business was making good. After seven months, she was able to return the money she borrowed. A year later, she bought a 2.4 ha farm lot followed by a tractor and then a jeep.

As if farming and farm financing were really cut for her, Tayan soon found that the farmers were already selling their farms to her. It did not take long enough for her farm to reach 20 ha of corn land. Later, she expanded to sugarcane production.

After being able to buy a cargo truck for hauling canes from the farms to the sugar central, she eventually started to buy standing canes several months before harvest. This venture enabled her to buy more farms from sugarcane growers.

Not yet contented with her progress in her earlier ventures, Tayan even planted 5 ha with mango starting in 2001. The first hectare started to bear fruits last season. Harvesting was made twice. The first harvest of 3000 kilograms (kg) was sold at PhP23/kg for PPh69,000. This was followed by 3,300 kg, which was sold at PhP21/kg for PPh69,300. On the whole, her gross sale from the first hectare was a total PhP138,300.

Likewise, Tayan has ventured into rubber production and planted 30 ha to this crop.

Right now, Tayan is producing corn in 44 ha, a large chunk of which (38 ha) belongs to her. The rest were mortgaged to her.

She has been planting the Bioseed corn hybrids like Bioseed 9900, Bioseed 9901 and Bioseed 9890 for several years now, and she immediately adopted the newest variety of Bioseed Research Philippines – Bioseed 9909 – as soon as it was introduced last year.

She planted 2.2 ha with the new variety and harvested 359 bags in cobs. At a shelling percentage of 48 percent, she got a total 172 bags of dried, shelled corn weighing a total 15, 480 kg. This means that she harvested an average 7,036 kg a hectare.

“You would be fascinated with the corn plants if you saw them growing,” Tayan said.

She added that the ears became bigger and the grains heavier with the application of the bio-organic fertilizer Durabloom, which she has been using continuously for four years already. This is especially true during the dry season.

Buyers classify the grains as Class A and she gets an additional incentive of PhP0.05 a kilo over the current price. With 15,480 kg, she gets an additional income of PhP774.

Contrary to the recommendation of Novatech Agri-Food Industries that Durabloom be applied during planting, Tayan applies this bio-organic fertilizer as side dress at 21 to 25 days after planting, using a mechanical applicator before hilling up. She applies 10 bags per hectare.

This has been her practice since four years ago after Durabloom was introduced to her and other Carmen farmers in a seminar by Dr. Rene Sumaoang, Novatech president and CEO.

Tayan said she already saw an increase in her corn yield on the first crop applied with Durabloom and, hence, has continued to use it.

In the past, Tayan was also providing production loans to farmers in the form of Bioseed corn seeds and other inputs for 1,000 ha (1 bag/ha) and was buying the harvest herself. However, she is now limited to 100 ha because she has diversified to mango, sugarcane and rubber production.

She also uses Durabloom as fertilizer for her mango trees and sugarcane, which now cover 13 ha.

With Durabloom fertilization, the mango fruits are big with an average weight of 600 grams each, she said.

Overall, Tayan only gave us a wide smile when we asked her if she ever gets tired with so many ventures on her hands. This is understandable, of course, since aside from the lands she has already accumulated, she seems to have almost everything she needs for her operations: 6 farm tractors, 3 10-wheeler cargo trucks, a Forward and 2 Elf cargo trucks, and a corn sheller.

Who would like to be employed as an accounting clerk with a meager salary if one’s income from farming and related ventures are as good as that of Tayan?

(Readers may reach columnist at spablico@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/harvest-time/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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