Author:

The serene waters of Tayabas Bay would sometimes peek in between the coconut trees dotting the horizon in Catanauan, Quezon. A six-hour drive from Manila, the first-class municipality stands on gently rolling hills, so fertile that almost every household depends on the land for sustenance, from copra production to rice farming. But for farmer Tatay Fortunato Mendoza, a TSPI Programang Pang-agrikultura (TPP) client since 2012, harnessing the richness of the soil is far from easy.  For one, his community’s experience … Continue reading “EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES”

We usually have a stereotype of a typical small town Filipino farmer—hardworking, skillful, and yet poor.  He tills the soil, sown the seeds of food staples, and provides not only for his family but for a hungry nation in need of sustenance.  And the cycle goes on, leaving the small farmer, content with just providing enough food for his family but not exactly earning the income required to uplift his way of living. What he doesn’t realize is that he … Continue reading “THE FARMER IS A BUSINESSMAN”

TATAY DANILO Flores of Valencia, Bukidnon barely finished high school and had no land of his own to till.  But because he was born to farming parents and taught the ways of the land at a young age of 12, there was no way he can escape his fate, which turned out to be sweet. Since 2007, Tatay Danilo has been harvesting an average of 350 cavans of rice from the three hectares he maintained as a tenant.  Eventually, he … Continue reading “FROM FARMER TO LANDOWNER”