EMPLOYEE PREPARES FOR EVENTUAL RETIREMENT

Noli Sason, an Iloilo Provincial Government employee took the advice of family friend, Fred Rivera, the noted fruit expert based in Davao City. Mr. Fred Rivera whom he fondly calls Moroy by his childhood nickname, had always encouraged him to go into farming, particularly fruits. Rivera had earned his money selling fruits and high quality fruit tree seedlings. Noli is saying he is ready for an early retirement now that his and his wife’s efforts have started to bear fruits, literally.

Fred told him once that even with just a few hectares, high quality fruit varieties and types, good technology and a resolute spirit to really succeed in farming, one can certainly earn more than what government can pay. So he and wife Vilma, also employed with the Iloilo Provincial Government, started their farm in late 2004, by buying 2.9950 hectares of sugar land located in Banate, Iloilo along the national highway to Passi City.

Fred advised him to acquire high quality King Mandarin oranges, pummelo, mango and others. Fred told him that the same efforts are expended whether you plant high quality cultivars or otherwise. The difference is that with high quality fruits and good management, the result is a superior harvest and quality that fetches high prices several times over. Besides, with high quality fruits, it is the sellers’ market and not the other way around.

So 2 years and a long drought after, they are left with more than 300 mandarin oranges- a few of them starting to set fruit, about 140 pummelo, 20 Longkong Lanzones, 20 Rong Rein Rambutan, 75 mangosteen, 50 dwarf San Ramon Coconut, 15 Malagkit Avocado, more than 500 Senorita banana, and 27 mango seedlings. Good management that he learned from Mr. Rivera and from others who had willingly shared their time enabled him to grow healthy plants.

With their plants on the verge of being fully productive, he is ready to call it quits with government. As early as now, he has already a well-laid game plan to enable him to earn on a short, medium and long term, commensurate or even more than what he expects to earn as a salaried employee.

Short term Income Sources:

1. Native Chickens.

Noli is a lifetime member of the Panay Gamefowl Breeders Association (PAGBA) and is an accomplished game chicken breeder. His game yard is in Villa Arevalo, Iloilo City where he raises the blue- and the green-legged Hatches that he is famous for. However in his farm in Banate, he opted to raise improved native chickens using the same genetics technology he learned as a game chicken breeder.

He uses two different types of chickens to develop his flock. For his roosters, he uses the orientals or asils locally known as jolo. These are large chickens weighing about 2.8 kgs at 7 months and very hardy that he already ranges them as early as 1 month old. He uses grades of native chickens crossed to either Kabir or Sasso for his hens. The resulting F1 are fast growing yet hardy and can be truly be free-ranged.

He also breeds by color. So he keeps 3 different flocks: reds, whites and gold (baraw or bulik). He uses a differently colored cocks to mate with hens of one color for heterogeneity or hybrid vigor. As he breeds for the market, he likewise keeps a sharp eye for potential breeders among the stocks being raised so that he will be able to get true to type individuals for the next generation of breeder stocks.

He has no problem marketing his chickens. Since he raises them naturally, he has created a demand for them especially among the restaurants in Villa Arevalo which is famous for its seafood and the native chicken lechon. Already he has a booking for at least 100 heads of slaughter chickens per week but he cannot meet the demand as yet.

2. Lemon Grass or Tanglad (Cymbopogon citrates):

Noli grows tanglad on the perimeter of his property. To date he has planted over 1,000 hills. He intends to use the grass as a pest repellent and for sale to the lechon joints in Villa Arevalo. Tanglad is a popular spice together with sampalok (tamarind) to flavor lechon, both chicken and pig. Noli says timing is everything.

He will not sell his tanglad just about anytime. He has studied the demand curve in Villa and says that during summer, tanglad is brought in from as far as 70 kilometers away because nearby plantings have been exhausted due mainly to the demand for lechon. Tanglad is sold by the bundle of 100 plants at P60.00 or about 60 centavos per plant.

3. Vegetables:

Noli had already tried several kinds of vegetables in his farm on the idle portions and between the growing citrus and other fruits. He was impressed by the growth and productivity of his ampalaya last summer and has plans to immediately develop about 1,000 sq. meters for the crop soon. He sees a great potential in vegetable gardening.

“Ilonggos are great consumers of local vegetables like alugbati (Basella rubra). Leaf onions are also in great demand due mainly to La Paz Batchoy, the favorite merienda of Ilonggos. Already, there is a booking for a regular delivery of sebuyas dahon and I am looking for a place in the farm for it”.

4. Banana:

He started with bananas when he acquired his farm but he did not give it much attention because he focused on his fruit trees. But lately he realized that the bananas, mostly the senorita type, brought him some income so he decided to also give it more attention. Now he thinks that his bananas will add to his growing list of crops that will provide him with short term income while waiting for the bonanza.

Medium and Long Term:

On the medium and long term, Noli sees the potentials of his fruit trees. He projects that Iloilo and Panay in general will continue to be dependent on Mindanao and Negros for its fruit needs, particularly rambutan, lanzones, durian, pummelo and oranges.

He says that “this situation is an opportunity that Ilonggos should already think deeply about. Fred Rivera is right when he said that even with just the King Mandarin and Magallanes Pummelo, we will be able to retire comfortably”.

“Fred tells me that a King Mandarin can yield at least 20 kilos per tree, twice a year at 7 to 8 years old. King Mandarin has always enjoyed a relatively high price in the fruit markets of Iloilo City. With my 300 trees alone (I intend to plant more). I am confident that I will be able to earn more than what I am earning from government now”.

“My Magallanes pummelo is also another potential. Fred tells me his experience on Magallanes which has become his top grosser. He has trees that gives him more than 50 kilos per season and at the present prices of P50.00 per kilo, the fruits are indeed a goldmine!”

Yes, Noli Sazon has decided to retire, not because he is disillusioned with government. He is just optimistic that he has found a new and more lucrative vocation where will continue to serve his fellow men- by farming and teaching other Ilonggos the bright future of fruit tree farming. “We Ilonggos had always been known as excellent rice farmers, but rice farming is a low value endeavor. Fruit farming is probably twenty times more profitable, and, in my own small way, I believe, I can help re-engineer the predisposition for rice and other short term crops and the shift towards higher value farming!”

TIPS TO GET STARTED WITH A RETIREMENT PROGRAM

From Noli Sazon

1. Start with a dream: Start with a vision of what you want to do after working with government and as you grow older;

2. Gather as much information as you can: If you love the dream or concept of farming as a retirement option, gather as much information as you can. Read magazines like this Agriculture Magazine, listen to experts, congregate or talk with friends who are already into it and solicit their expert advice;

3. Form initial plans and try to test these plans and concepts without much expenses as you finalize your decisions: As you go through your daily work routines, formulate either unwritten or written plans then try to test them and formulate chances of success. If you are able, prepare written business plans either alone or with the help of experts and friends who know how to prepare financial simulations. This way you lessen your risks;

4. Scout and acquire an “ideal” farm site: A real ideal farm site is impossible. But make do with land that has the most of what you are looking for. The foremost consideration is water availability especially if you are planning a fruit farm. Accessibility is also an important consideration. For Noli, his farm is just beside the national highway from Banate to Passi City so he can drive his old reliable Beetle right to his farm every Friday afternoon or early Saturday morning to stay in the farm during weekends;

TIPS TO GET STARTED WITH A RETIREMENT PROGRAM

From Noli Sazon

1. Start small but start wise: Noli bought his farm at a reasonable cost and started to develop it by planting bananas. He followed Fred Rivera’s advice to acquire seedlings of high quality varieties;

2. Be a hands-on farmer: A farm development venture is a hands-on job and you cannot delegate it to anybody. You have to monitor the work on site and that you have to monitor your investments as well as keep a record of the development costs;

3. Plan for short, then medium and long term: Plan your short term income stream like corn, dryland rice, sorghum, vegetables, chickens, etc. This will immediately give you some revenues to offset the costs of developing your long term crops;

4. Keep a regular schedule of visiting the farm and stay there for as long as possible: Noli comes to the farm on weekends and during holidays and stays there for as long as possible. He works as hard as he can not only for physical exertion but more importantly on critical development like laying out the planting areas of each species or type of fruit, weeding, construction of farm structures like the chicken growing areas, etc.;

5. Keep track of the market so that you will be able to produce what is needed and can be sold: Noli keeps as tight watch of what is salable in Villa. Like tanglad which is a key ingredient in lechon both pigs and chickens. He also grows vegetables that can be brought in his Beetle when he goes home Sunday evening;

6. Convert as much products to cash to plow back to the farm operations: As you produce anything that can be sold, sell them to generate cash that can be plowed back to operations. As soon as the improved native chickens reached 1.3 kilograms, he sold them to the contracted buyer and plowed back his revenues to farm expenses and investments;

7. Keep focused to your goals: Always keep focused. Well-meaning friends will try to inject fresh ideas. Analyze them and if they fit into your plans, adopt them but do not digress from the general plan that you laid out at the beginning;

Relax and enjoy: As Noli and Vilma go through the different phases of their farm development, they enjoy and long to stay longer and longer since the fruits of their labor has started and the pleasure of succeeding has gotten into their system. Now both of them seem to like to stay longer at the farm than at the office.