For Marie Haga, associate vicepresident for External Relations and Governance of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development, farming families can “break the vicious circle of hunger and conflict.” These families are usually involved in small-scale agriculture, which is seen as key to “food systems that contribute to peaceful and healthy communities.” As 2 billion people depend on the world’s 500 million small farms, Haga said that farming families have great “potential to contribute more to well-functioning, sustainable food systems.” She added that smallholder farmers tend to take better care of the environment. In this farmer’s account, a member of a farming family details their agricultural practices, which produce good crops without harming the environment. ------I am Monica L. Cab-ad, 58, a rice and vegetable farmer for life.
Even as a child, I knew that I would stay in this kind of work. It was my family’s identity. For years now, I had been managing a 1,500m2 land that can be reached through a 30-min walk from our home in Sitio Tumpic, Labueg, Kapangan, Benguet. It is owned by my cousin but we agreed that I could farm there as long as I pay for the land tax. It is subdivided into three unequal parts. Every August, I plant Wagwag, a traditional red rice, which I believe is native in Kapangan. We tried other varieties that didn’t yield well. Wagwag matures in five months. In one part of the land, we could harvest 30 cans of rice (metal cans of oil). Every harvest, we set apart four cans of seeds for the next planting season. We produce rice for home consumption only. It is delicious and has good aroma. During the other months, we plant fastgrowing vegetables such as california bell pepper, french beans, ginger, and corn. This is where we get our family income. My main farm helpers are my children. I have 12 kids but five already have their
Profitable, risk-free shift for the
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own families. They help clean the farm surroundings, transplant and harvest, and prepare food for us.
Changing patterns Our farm life gradually changed when I enrolled in training programs/courses and seminars on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) sometime in 2017. The DA-Cordillera Administrative Regional Field Office (DACARFO) and our municipal agriculture office (MAO) invited us to join in these activities. They also toured us in GAP-certified farms in La Trinidad, Mankayan, and Tuba towns. As I listened to the stories of these successful farmers, I began to believe that I could also do well in my own farm. I applied the lessons gradually in my farm. In January 2019, I did it head on. My farm was GAP-certified in Sep 2019. We started off by fixing the farm shed. When it was completed, we divided it into the dining, cooking, storage, and wash
MONICA L. CAB-AD AS TOLD TO ANNA MARIE F. BAUTISTA
ENVIRONM
PHILRICE MAGAZINE | JUL-SEP 2021
