With every seed sown and every harvest reaped, joy blooms in the peaceful fields of organic farming. Through organic practices, a single farmer can contribute to the development of a more resilient and sustainable agriculture for generations to come.

The Sprouting Start

Coming from a family with a strict food diet, Mrs. Jocelyn “Joy” Dariagan Reyes yearns to consume healthy food. With this, Joy started having the idea of cultivating a simple farm that produces organic rice and vegetables.

Rather than using chemicals that can affect people's health, she envisioned farming that enhances soil nutrients and uses less chemicals. With the simple grasp of the idea, it became a passion to provide the community with fresh and organically grown produce. This passion led her to the world of organic farming.

The Budding Passion

Joy became one of the pioneering promoters of organic pigmented rice in Central Luzon in the early 2000s. She then established her farm, the Joyful Garden Farm Organic Farmers Association Inc., at Barangay Mataas na Parang, San Ildefonso, Bulacan in 2015 with the help of her brother and sister-in-law.

Organic pigmented rice is the main crop produced at the farm. In addition, they also produce different vegetables and herbs. Livestock, poultry and vermiculture are also present. Moreover, they produce processed products such as noodles and rice flour using vegetables and rice grown on the farm.

The establishment of the farm was in line with the RA 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010. She wanted to promote organic farming with the hopes and dreams to help the community, not only to provide them with organic commodities but also for them to have a source of living.

Nurturing the Dream

Joy admitted that starting a farm was not a walk in the park. Organic farming is not as easy as conventional farming. Fertilizers used for their crops came from wastes in their livestock production while vegetable scraps are used as animal feed. Aside from that, they also practice vermicomposting. Therefore, operating an organic farm is indeed a laborious job.

Thankfully, with the help of her family for additional fundings and manpower, she was able to improve the farm. “We operate by faith, so ‘yong lahat ng hamon, ‘pag kasama namin ang Panginoon, I’m sure everything will follow,” she added.

Joy, together with the farm members, also started attending training and seminars spearheaded by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and other government and private agencies to broaden their knowledge in the field of farming. Their farm was granted several machineries from the Department of Agriculture for the efficient production of organic pigmented rice and vegetables.