𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗛 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗦: 𝗘𝗠𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗕𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗖’𝗦 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗔𝗦 𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗠 𝗢𝗙 𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚

THE REALIZATION

After a heartbreaking loss of Mr. Emmanuel Bundoc through the death of his parents, he decided to venture into organic agriculture and farming. This led to Emman started prioritizing the health of his family through producing healthy rice. He thought that all the produce in their farm was contaminated by chemicals that affected the health of his family.

“After ko minana itong farm na ito, doon na nagsimula yung aking adbokasiya na gawin ko ito para sa pamilya ko” he said when asked about the goal of the farm. Dedicating the farm to his family does not only mean of feeding them but also means prioritizing the health of their family through food production.

CHALLENGING THE PASSION TO SERVE

Connecting with people in agriculture was the challenge for Emman. For him, having zero knowledge on farming contributes to the challenge of connecting to farmers in their community.

“Kahit sabihin mo na ito yung ipinangbuhay sa amin ng aming mga magulang pero hindi ko inasam na maging isang magsasaka,” he remarked after asking what challenged him to serve their farming community.

It might be a joke to some, but according to him, he thinks being a farmer is not for him.

HIS BURNING PASSION

Little did he know that he was destined to help the local farming community as well as to pursue farming himself.

Despite the storm, he still stands up to help the farmers. Despite slow progress, he still manages to conquer the challenges.

From being a newbie in farming, Mr. Bundoc has now reached his goal in inspiring farmers through his acquired knowledge from taking part in many training activities of ATI Central Luzon. It testifies how dedicated he is in providing quality training and changing the mindset of farmers in indigenous practices.

Instead, he started introducing new technologies and practices that can lower the input cost so that they can have huge income from their farm produce.

SUPPORTING LOCAL FARMING COMMUNITIES

“Sobrang laki ng naitulong sa akin ng Felisidro farm dahil sa kanila natuto ako ng mga makabagong teknolohiya sa pagsasaka,” Mr. Moises Navalta said when asked how Felisidro farm helped him.

Mr. Navalta was a graduate of farmers field school (FFS) of Felisidro farm. He was referred by the Chairman of Municipal Agricultural and Fisheries Council to enrol to in FFS at Felisidro farm. Before, he was practicing the traditional or indigenous ways of farming but because of the learnings he acquired from the farm school, he started applying the new technologies and practices from the school. Additionally, he now has reduced input costs for his farm and makes 20% more money than he did previously.

In other words, a novice farming has the power to transform not only the farmers’ perspectives on farming technologies and methods, but also their life.

THE REASONS BEHIND HIS SUCCESS

From the start, his family has always been the driving force behind his success in organic farming, and he is currently producing organic rice or brown rice.

Additionally, as farm owner, he was given the chance to become a certified Learning Site for Agriculture (LSA) by Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center III, which is now an extension of ATI-RTC III in providing agricultural training services to farmers.

Emman also took the big brother-small brother scheme close to his heart. He would give chicks to other farmers without asking anything in return, for them to start a farm. He equipped that to get what you want, “You should have a heart of a champion, and a mindset of a challenger.” With these, you can go far and reach for anything that you wish for.

Felisidro farm is also a venue for day-care students’ activity. He usually teaches web of life, and planting seeds and seedlings. The farm, filled with rice, livestock, and poultry, is found in Brgy. Paltao, Pulilan, Bulacan.

Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) also played a key role to his success now. Without the program which funded his operation in his farm, he cannot use his platform in educating farmers.

“Nang dahil sa ATI Central Luzon at RCEF ay nakapagpatayo ako ng maayos na training hall na ginagamit namin para sa mga pagsasanay” Emman added.

Through the support of ATI Central Luzon, he was able to train local farmers in their community using a comfortable and learning-friendly environment that will enable them to learn comfortably.