StARCM makes farming a promising profession

Mario Murillo in his one-and-a-half-hectare ampalaya farm as he prepares for the transplanting of ampalaya seedlings to his newly rented farm in Barangay Kangkong, Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat

THIS foreign-assisted project has passed the test of time. More than a decade has gone by and still it remains in the hearts and minds of the rural folks in Central Mindanao.

The Support to Agrarian Reform Communities in Central Mindanao (StARCM), a six-year project funded by the European Union, set foot in the country in 2001.

It passed on to Filipino farmers the open secret of vegetable farming, an alternative to rice farming. Since then, it has become a household by-word, its influence has greatly reshaped the attitude of agrarian reform beneficiaries towards farming.

While some may view farming as unexciting, to the agrarian reform beneficiaries who learned the new farming know-how through the StARCM, it is very encouraging and promising.

Mario Murillo is one of those who have benefitted from StARCM. His patience and hard work paid great dividends as he earned his first P1 million in ampalaya (bitter gourd).

“Never in my wildest imagination that I would earn this much. I owe everything to the DAR (Department of Agrarian Reform) for bringing to us the StARCM,” Murillo says.

“Ang StARCM ang nag-orient sa amin dito sa Barangay Kangkong na mag-try sa vegetable farming – ampalaya, talong at kamatis. Nakita namin na madali rito ang pera (It was the StARCM that oriented us here in Barangay Kangkong to bitter gourd, eggplant and tomato. We found out that it was easier to earn money here),” he adds.

Murillo claimed that in his one-and-a-half-hectare farm of ampalaya, he had already grossed P1.42 million. After deducting the cost of production of around P300,000 and the man his peers called “Super Mario” easily became the new member of the millionaires’ club.

Add the projected income from his soon-to-be-harvested cucumber and eggplant farms and Murillo will likely breach two million in gross earnings.

Murillo transplanted his ampalaya only last October. By December, he already harvested P170 kilos and sold for P8,000. Since he was harvesting twice a week, he grossed P35,000 for that month alone.

While Murillo promotes vegetable farming, he stresses that farmers should continue rice farming since it remains a staple among Filipinos. He advises to set aside a portion of the farm for vegetables to sustain the needs of the family.

“Kapag nagtanim kami ng palay, ilang buwan pa kaming maghintay. Pero sa vegetable farming, pwede nang mag-harvest at kumita sa loob ng 35 days, lalo na kapag maganda ang pag-apply ng abono, (If we planted palay, we would wait for months before harvest. But in vegetable farming, you can already harvest and earn in 35 days, especially if fertilizers are properly applied),” he says.

“For the month of January 2019, I grossed P540,000, for February P440,000 and for March P405,000,” he adds.

Murillo’s rags-to-riches journey is one for the book. His family used to go through a hand-to-mouth existence.

His father, Tomas Murillo, Sr., owned five hectares of rain-fed rice field. For lack of irrigation, cropping season was good only for once a year, not enough to sustain the needs of a family of 12. Murillo is the sixth among 10 siblings.

He was lucky to finish high school. He had to stop his college studies after his father got sick due to asthma. At the early age of 17, he took over the farming chores and became the head of the family.

“Hindi na kaya ni tatay dahil sa hika (My father could not do it anymore because of asthma),” Murillo recalls.

He adds: Ako na ang nagsaka sa lupa namin simula noong 1984. Hilig kong maggulayan kaya tinaniman ko ng labanos at kamatis ang isang bahagi ng sakahan namin. Gumanda ang kita ko at napagtapos ko ng pag-aaral ang apat kong nakababatang kapatid (I took care of our farm in 1984. I’m fond of vegetable farming so I planted radish and tomatoes in some part of our farm. I earned much more and was able to send my four younger siblings to school),” he says with satisfaction.

But things didn’t turn out well in his early married life. He got married to the former Mary Jane Paje and they were gifted with four children.

“Ibinigay sa akin ng papa ko ang isang ektarya ng lupa, pero partida ba. Hirap ang buhay, kahit panggatas ng panganay ko kapos. Kahit anong trabaho, pinasukan ko, hindi ko na iniisip kung magkano ibayad sa akin, kahit P100 tanggap ko. Importante may pambili ako ng gatas ng panganay ko. (My father gave me one hectare of farm under sharing system. But life was hard. We could not even afford milk for my eldest child. I took odd jobs, not thinking about the pay for as long as I could buy milk for my child),” Murillo says.

“Humingi ako ng permiso sa uncle ko na magpartida sa lupa niya. Tinaniman ko ng radish at nakatulong naman kahit papaano sa gastusin. (I asked my uncle to allow me to till his one-hectare farm under a sharing system. I planted radish and it helped make ends meet),” he adds.

When the DAR introduced StARCM and its vegetable program Murillo quickly volunteered and learned later that he had a “green thumb” for vegetable farming.

Murillo opted to rent a half-an-hectare farm for his newfound farming enterprise for P30,000, while maintaining his rice farming in his inherited farm. He took a P30,000 loan from a rural bank at 10 percent interest rate and unspecified amount from a cooperative to cover the cost of farm inputs and labor.

And the rest is history. The man, who started from scratch, is now a certified millionaire. (By Richard B. Gallardo)

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