Wake Up! Aggie Journalists & Play Active Roles Towards More Farmers’ Success


A1, an OFW, takes up farming, cultivates 50 ha and makes P1,500,000 (US$30,000) every 6 months out of garlic and onions. Story comes out.

A2, also an OFW, cultivates 1 ha of rice and makes only P10,000 each cropping season. No story.

A3, a farmer, converts his 7-ha crop farm into a tourism farm and now is earning P1 million a year! Story.

A4, an agriculturist, quits his job at a government office, converts his 5-ha farm into a tourism farm and is earning P120,000 a year. Compare with A3. No story.

A5 is raising improved native chickens (dominant CZ) in La Union and is now earning half a million every 6 months. Story.

A6, long-time farmer, is raising native chickens and barely earning enough for his family. His wife sells fish in the public market. No story.

A7 planted the Longping hybrid rice in 10 hectares and made P500,000 in 1 growing season. Story.

A8 planted Longping hybrid rice in 1 ha and made only P15,000 in 1 growing season. No story.

A9 is growing cacao seedlings in his 1 ha agroforest farm and making P1 million a year from sales. Story.

A10 is growing cacao in his 2 ha agroforest farm and making only P100,000 a year from sales. No story.

A11 is growing sweet sorghum in 2 ha and making P500,000 from the wine he makes. Story.

A12 is growing sweet sorghum in 2 ha and making only P100,000 from the wine he makes. No story.

A13 is growing all the pinakbetvegetables and is making P1 million a year. The vegetables include bitter gourd, eggplant, okra, chili, drumstick tree, and winged beans. He sells to A15. Story.

A14 is growing all the pinakbetvegetables and is making only P150,000 a year. No story.

A15 is running a restaurant in town exclusively offering the authentic Ilocano pinakbet, and is making half a million pesos every 4 months. The Filipinos – and foreigners – love vegetables cooked just right. Story.

A16 is running a restaurant offering exclusively pinakbet and is making only P50,000 every 5 months. No story.

A17 bought a bus and now is earning P500,000/year from that vehicle. He is planning to buy another one. Story.

A18 bought a bus and now is earning P150,000/year from that vehicle. No story.

A19 has an orchard of mangoes that yields him P750,000 every harvest season. He does not do the harvesting himself – the buyer along with his boys does it. Story.

A20 has an orchard of mangoes that yields him only P50,000 every harvest season. No story.

Different farmers, similar costs – dissimilar results in returns. There are millions more farmers failing to rise from poverty, so they are the ones that our journalists should be writing about! (millionaire image[1] from SlidePlayer; w/health image from Shutterstock.com[2])

Unhappily, PH journalists actively neither supports the leadership of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar nor farmer groups in their efforts for individual members to succeed. Else, we can have more millionaire farmers than they can write about!@517


[1]https://slideplayer.com/slide/13708016/
[2]https://www.shutterstock.com/search/wealth

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