Facets of PH farming: Is it really aging?

SAN JOSE CITY, Nueva Ecija – Farming has been the long-standing primary livelihood for the family of Maximino Legaspi, a native of Barangay Malasin, this town. He breathes it day in and day out, and it runs in his veins.

The 53-year-old farmer, however, might be already the last in his kin, as he no longer intends to pass the practice on to his children.

“Gustuhin ko man, parang hindi eh. Paano ko papangarapin na magsaka ang mga anak ko, ngayong ang tingin ko ay walang pag-asa ang maliliit na magsasakang Pilipino sa bayang ito? (As much as I want my children to go into farming, how can I afford to have that dream when I see no hope for small Filipino farmers in this country?),” he asked rhetorically.

Victor Melanio, 34, dreams the same for his kids.

“Ang gusto ko para sa anak ko, makapag-ibang trabaho, ibang career, kasi sobrang hirap at saka parang wala ring kinikita [sa pagsasaka] (I want some other career for my child because of the difficulties in farming and the scarce income),” he said.

Worldwide trend

While the Department of Agriculture (DA) does not have available official figures on senior and middle aged farmers who do not relinquish land tilling to their younger generations, Philippine farmers today average 55 years old, a recent study by the Central Mindanao University revealed, as mentioned in a 2015 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations titled “Gender Opportunities and Constraints in Inclusive Business Mofarmdels – The Case Study of Unifrutti in Mindanao, Philippines.”

In a forum held in Quezon City last week, DA Undersecretary for Operations (Crops) and Agribusiness and Marketing Emerson Palad said that an aging agri industry is now becoming a trend, not only in the Philippines, but also in other countries.

“’Pag tiningnan po natin, this is a worldwide trend. Sila rin (other countries), they are experiencing the same problem na siguro with the changing times,” he said.

He said traditional farmers experience the everyday difficulties in the farm and they do not wish to pass that on to their children.

Trend ‘not true’

San Jose City, Nueva Ecija Agriculturist Reynaldo Amarillo, however, believes that this trend is not true in the case of the locals.

“Bihirang bihira lang mangyari ‘yan. Meron at merong sasalo sa anak ng magsasaka. Bihirang mangyari na walang magmamana (There will always be a farmer that comes next in the family. It seldom happens that no one inherits the task),” he said.

Nueva Ecija, one of the seven provinces in Central Luzon, is dubbed the “Rice Granary of the Philippines.”

Legaspi attested to Amarillo’s statement.

“Meron at merong magtitiis. Paano ka makakapagpaaral? Siyempre, hanggang sa tumanda ka, ‘yung mga apo mo sa tuhod, magsasaka,” he said.

Official statistics provided by the local agricultural office to the Manila Bulletin show that San Jose City has 6,516 farmers that cultivate 9,159.24 hectares of land for the current wet season. The figure covers irrigated, rainfed, and upland farmlands in all of the city’s 38 barangays.

In Malasin, Legaspi and Melanio’s barangay, 287 farmers till 279.80 hectares of land.

The city, however, also does not have a record of the average age of its farmers as of the moment.

‘No choice’

Legaspi became a full-time farmer in 2001 after he left activism, saying that “being in the revolutionary movement can never be a livelihood.”

He temporarily found a way of living in an urban poor non-government organization, but his income did not suffice for his family’s every day needs.

“Binibili ko lahat, ultimo talbos ng kamote. No choice ako, bumalik ako [sa bukid] (I have to buy everything, even sweet potato tops. I had to no choice but to return to farming),” Legaspi said.

He has two children who are both girls; the eldest, an industrial engineer, is in the manufacturing industry, while the youngest is a new Chemistry graduate.

While Melanio has been inclined to farming since he was young, he only considered it as a full-time job six years ago.

“Meron lang nakasanlang lupa sa akin,” he said. “Wala naman kasi akong pag-asang makapag-ibang career, ‘yung halimbawa, makapag-trabaho sa ibang bansa.”

Legaspi, who earns at least 100,000 annually from planting crops in his twohectare patch of land, also admitted that farming alone could no longer suffice for his family’s everyday needs.

“Hindi ka mabubuhay nang disente sa kita sa bukid (Income from the farm cannot provide a decent living),” he said.

Increased income

Farming, like any other job, entails hardships according to Palad, so they are starting to develop means to help farmers, especially the aging ones.

“Wala namang trabaho na madali. Kaya po ang agrikultura, alam po natin ‘yan, banatan ng buto (No job is easy. Agriculture, as we know it, is a tough job),” he said. “Kaya nga po tinutulungan natin sila through mechanization. Kahit papaano, maibsan ang kanilang hirap doon sa palayan (That’s why we’re helping them through mechanization in order to lighten their hardships in the ricefield).”

It involves the provision and use of all forms of power sources and mechanical assistance to agriculture, from simple hand tools, to animal draught power (DAP), and to mechanical power technologies. The choice depends on local circumstances. Human, animal and machine power can complement each other in the same household, farm and village.

A key input in any farming system, mechanization, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, is “the process of improving farm labor productivity through the use of agricultural machinery, implements, and tools.” Examples of these provisions are electric rice hullers, animal draught power, and simple hands tools.

He also said that they are aiming to increase the farmers’ income by at least 30 percent through the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), a sixyear project in partnership with local government units and the private sector meant to provide key infrastructure, facilities, technology, and information that will uplift the countryside.

“Regardless po kung anong propesyon ‘yan, kung wala naman pong kikitain at lugi ka sa pagod, I don’t think papasukin ng tao ‘yan (Regardless of the kind of profession, if one’s labor does not pay off then I don’t think any one will get into it),” Palad said.

Changing people’s mindset

Another reason the younger ones do not consider venturing into the business of agriculture is that farming is seen as a menial job, Oriental Mindoro 2nd District Rep. Reynaldo Umali said in a forum recently.

“Kailangang baguhin ang mindset na kapag ikaw ay magsasaka, ikaw ay mahirap (We must change the mindset that if you’re a farmer, you’re poor),” he said, citing that in Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology (MINSCAT), only six of the 546 graduates finished agriculture course.

Umali believes that to attain this, agriculture graduates should learn the business of agriculture.

“Isang problema sa mga agricultural graduates natin, they know the science of agriculture. ‘Pag nanilaw ‘yung mga dahon ay alam nila kung papaano nila gagamutin ‘yun. Ang problema nila, hindi nila alam kung papaanong magnegosyo kaya sila’y sinasamantala ng traders (One problem with agriculture graduates is that they only know the science. When the leaves turn yellow, they know how to treat it. But they do not know the business side of agriculture and so they are open to abuse by middlemen traders),” he added.

This is why MINSCAT now has ladderized farm courses which lead to a degree in entrepreneurship.

‘Very important sector’

Amarillo emphasized that farming is a very important sector in the Philippines.

“Dito sa Pilipinas, bihira ang kumakain ng tinapay lang. Talagang bigas pa rin,” Amarillo said. “Kaya tingin ko ay talagang napakahalaga ng agrikultura sa [ating] bansa (In the Philippines, only a few eat bread. Rice is the staple food. So, agriculture is really important to us).”

Despite all the hardships he is experiencing, Legaspi does not see himself leaving the farmlands.

Asked to whom he will entrust farming in their family when he retires, he was firm on his decision not to pass it on to his children.

“I’m likely to die as a farmer. I was born with nature as a part of me. This is where I’m happy. When you age, there’s nowhere to go but back to where you belong – in my case, it’s the farm,” he said in Filipino. (With interview from Monch Mikko Misagal and Justin Flores)