OFW-turned-farmer Fidel David checks on his “super peanuts” at his farm in Sta. Rita, Pampanga. He said the variety given to him by the Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija is bigger compared to ordinary peanuts.
Photo by Joey Pavia
(Conclusion)
STA. RITA, Pampanga — Roy Imperial disclosed that Fidel David had been considered for the full scholarship grant on modern agricultural farming in Israel.
The consultant-adviser of Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda said that David “would be the best farmer to be sent as he is passionately involved in organic farming” largely patronized in the State of Israel.
David told Imperial, a former Department of Agriculture (DA) official in Luzon, that “I have many things to do here and other farmers may be more qualified for the study grant.”
But Imperial stressed that David is the “wise choice” because he will surely share to other farmers what he will learn in the Middle East country.
Last year, David was featured in a Metro Manila-based magazine for his successful yield of Jade Lady honeydew melons.
David developed the green-colored fruits at his greenhouse donated through the DA High Value Crop Development program initiated by former President and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Several farmers who received greenhouses are encouraged by David’s success in growing honeydew lemons under greenhouse condition using organic fertilizers. They also want to learn David’s methodology.
FAIR MARKET
But David’s success story on growing honeydew lemons had been cut short by the so-called “greed and unfair market practice of some middlemen.”
David disclosed that a prominent and well-known firm had purchased his honeydew lemons for P20 per kilo.
Then a few days later he found out that the private firm had sold his fruits much higher, commanding a P120 per kilo price at a mall in Pampanga.
David urged Gov. Pineda to help farmers get a fair share of the marketing and monetary benefits of their fruits and vegetables.
“We do all the work and invest on our crops with our hard-earned money. But it’s the middlemen who benefit a lot when they have nothing to lose but everything to gain,” said David in the dialect.
TRADING POST
He asked the first-term governor to create a trading post similar to what Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala had fully supported in Sariaya, Quezon. It benefited Quezon farmers, most of whom from the province’s second district where Alcala was a former congressman.
Imperial said the governor had asked him earlier to make a study on the trading post or center along the Olongapo-Gapan road.
“Gov. Pineda was inspired by the success of the trading post pushed by Secretary Alcala in Quezon. But he asked me to make a thorough study of the trading center to make sure it will be beneficial, especially to farmers,” said Imperial.
Butil Farmers Partylist Rep. Agapito Guanlao of Pampanga also pushed for the creation of a trading center in the province.
David said the national government should help farmers sell their produce in a set-up where they will earn more instead of the middlemen.
He said the money and time spent by the government on subsidizing the farmers should be used in helping them market and sell properly their fruits and vegetables.
“The farmers can buy their fertilizers and other needs. The real problem is that they don’t get much profit from their products due to unfair practices,” said David.
He said that the farmers bring directly their products at the trading post, selling higher compared to what the middlemen offer them.
David pinned his hopes on Pineda, saying “the governor has been helping his people a lot and the farmers have high hopes on her.”
He said he is ready to help Pineda on her projects designed to help farmers get a better yield and improve their lives.
David said he was alarmed by his own study and survey that the average age of farmers in Pampanga is 54. He asked the ages of at least 1,000 farmers.
He said the project of Pineda should encourage younger people to engage in the noble but rewarding profession of farming.
“As I have said, farming is where the money is. We just have to know the new technology and not just rely on planting palay,” said David.
“The trading post is just the missing piece,’ he added.
