In the hopes of improving Philippine agriculture, couple Jeffrey Manalo and Micah Aniceto-Manalo established their own farm in January 2018. They called the five-hectare farm located in Sitio Maligtong, Barangay San Jose, Tuy, Batangas as La Granja de Ceres.
Jeffrey said that their primary purpose is to improve farmers’ lives, to promote agritourism through raising livestock, growing high-value crops and fruit trees, and to involve the community in farming.
Image: Facebook/La Granja de Ceres
Before venturing into farming, they stayed in Singapore for almost eight years and worked there as software engineers.
The farm
La Granja de Ceres was named after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, grain, and fertility. Inside, one will find a variety of crops that include chilies, eggplant, okra, corn, cassava, and sweet potato.
The farm’s main product is their chilies which they sell to the market for P80 per kilo. Each week, they are able to harvest 15 to 20 kilos of the said crop.
Aside from planting crops, the farm is also home to various livestock and poultry such as goats, cattle, chickens, and quails. But among these, they get the most profits from quails.
“We have quail eggs that are harvested every day since our birds produce around 1,500 eggs daily,” Jeffrey shares.
Image: Facebook/La Granja de Ceres
Though they are still considerably new to the trade, the couple is determined to achieve their goals. Among the things that they do to turn their vision into reality is they turn to trusted and available sources to learn the ropes.
“My mom and dad were farmers. I had to seek advice from my parents about farming and I also follow the practices of nearby farmers they had the actual experience,” he added.
He also shared that they even joined a farmers’ association to broaden their network and learn more about farming. Furthermore, they also searched online for information and references for farming.
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