Two young farmers from Ilocos Norte on Wednesday shared insights to help fellow farmers boost their income, the first of which is knowing the market before producing any product.
Leiver Jay Macatumbas, 26, and James Karl Tomas, 23, just came from an 11-month training in Japan under the Young Filipino Farm Leaders Training Program, a partnership between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Japan Agricultural Exchange Council (JAEC).
The program aims to develop deserving young Filipino farmers to become farmer leaders and empowered agricultural entrepreneurs.
“Agriculture is a business enterprise. Knowing your market gives you the leverage to minimize risk,” said Macatumbas, who has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.
He will start a chili processing business using the PHP50,000 grant that will come from the Agriculture Training Institute (ATI).
Tomas, in turn, plans to venture into high-value crop production with focus on premium rice production, a staple food for more than half of the world’s population.
He will also be given a grant for start-up capital for his agri-business proposal, which he thought of after working as an agricultural trainee at the Morishima Farm in Haga town in Japan.
“Travel changes the way we see the world, allowing us to appreciate different cultures and perspectives,” he said in a recent Facebook post, as he shared his experiences with Japanese culture and agriculture technology.
“Rice farming in Japan is very productive. They sterilized the soil and they are into contract farming,” Tomas told the Philippine News Agency on Tuesday after a visit to the Provincial Capitol.
He said he is inspired to pursue organic farming and employ agricultural techniques and practices he learned abroad to reduce agri input costs.