SAN AGUSTIN, Romblon – With its local small-scale poultry farms having limited egg production capacity, this Province mainly relies on imported chicken eggs to fully sustain the daily requirements of consumers, restaurants and other local businesses.
Bulk of Romblon’s egg supply are shipped from other areas in the country, making its supply vulnerable to transportation disruptions caused by adverse weather conditions and other unexpected delays. These constraints were in full display during the previous imposition of lockdown measures and travel restrictions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local businessmen and brothers Alex and Raymond Abelido saw this demand-supply gap as an opportunity to establish Tierra del Sur Farms, Inc., a commercial poultry farm to help strengthen local egg production and cut down egg imports.
“Growing Romblon’s poultry production is part of our vision to build a more sustainable food system in Romblon. This is our contribution towards ensuring food security in the province,” said Tierra del Sur Farms President and CEO Alex Abelido.
Branching out from their existing construction business, the Abelido brothers faced the challenge of venturing into agriculture and building the largest poultry farm in the province to-date.
In 2023, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) extended credit assistance amounting to P160 million to re-finance the construction of facilities in their 17-hectare farm in Romblon.
The LANDBANK loan helped put up necessary facilities such as four poultry buildings, as well as feeds and tools warehouses, workers’ quarters and an organic fertilizer plant. Part of the loan also supported the acquisition of ready-to-lay chickens and covered the purchase of chicken feeds, among other operational expenses.
Not long after having 25,000 laying hens at the beginning of their operations, Tierra del Sur Farms, Inc. now has around 60,000 laying hens in their Romblon farm producing about 54,000 eggs daily. These eggs are distributed to the different island municipalities of the province, including Tablas Island.
Locals are now able to buy eggs at a much cheaper price, with each piece sold at a farm gate price of P7.00 compared to imports that cost around P10.00 per piece. Having locally produced eggs likewise ensures quality and availability in the province, as compared to imported eggs which could take days to reach the province.
With the success of their Romblon poultry farm, Tierra del Sur Farms, Inc. likewise sought the assistance of LANDBANK in expanding their operations to Calatagan, Batangas. They availed a P430-million loan to finance the construction of poultry buildings and support facilities such as an organic fertilizer plant, sewage treatment plant, and warehouses.
The Batangas poultry farm houses around 250,000 laying hens in seven fully automated and mechanized poultry buildings. It produces about 200,000 eggs daily, shipped to various trade partners in Batangas, Rizal, and Manila.
“We would like to thank LANDBANK for its support as we achieve our goals of empowering local communities and ensuring food security. We look forward to their continued support as we plan to expand the reach of our operations even further to neighboring provinces,” said Raymond Abelido, Tierra del Sur Farms, Inc. Corporate Treasurer and manager.
As of end-March 2024, LANDBANK’s outstanding loans to the poultry sector has reached P15.5 billion to finance the production of chicken and duck eggs, breeding of poultry, and sale of poultry meat and products, among other projects.
Building a sustainable circular economy
As part of Tierra del Sur Farms, Inc.’s advocacy to operate with minimal ecological footprint, the farm prides itself on employing sustainable methods for waste management to reduce environmental impact and protect natural resources.
Through a sewage treatment plant also financed by LANDBANK, the farm recycles wastewater as drinking water for their chickens, thereby reducing costs and preventing water pollution.
LANDBANK’s assistance likewise enabled the farm to construct an organic fertilizer plant to produce their own fertilizer from chicken manure. These fertilizers are sold to local farmers to help improve soil quality and agricultural production.
Tierra del Sur Farms, Inc. was also recently recognized for the good quality of their fertilizer and tapped by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) through a joint venture to supply organic fertilizer to coconut farmers nationwide.
Their new collaboration aims to boost coconut production while promoting proper poultry waste management, as the Abelido brothers work towards making their business more sustainable and self-sustaining.
