Recent reports said that the average age of farmers in the country is 53. If this average holds, there will be a critical shortage of farmers in 12 years or so. But hope isn’t all lost as some of the younger generations have taken an interest in agriculture.
“Ever since, the three of us have been very passionate about agriculture. Agriculture is part of our lives, we grew up in a family where farming is our primary source of income. During this journey, we learned how agriculture works from basic to scientific and technological knowledge,” they said. “Parauma was inspired by the noble works of our farmers. We want to show to all that farming is an enjoyable profession while making money from it. In addition, we dedicated our project to all farmers who are feeding our community untiringly,” they said.
They implemented their project last August 2021 when Parauma started. The farm is still in development as the three are creating technology that they hope would someday help farmers.As an integrated natural farm, Parauma grows high-value crops such as papaya, lettuce, and herbs while also raising rabbits, quails, and free-range chickens. They also create a natural fertilizer for their crops such as vermicast from African nightcrawlers, concoctions, and extracts from their farm’s waste.
“In livestock production, for now, the highest-earning is quail production. We harvest quail eggs almost every day. Our target market is final consumers to maximize our profit since we are beginners in this venture,” the trio said. Aside from growing crops and raising livestock, Parauma Integrated Natural Farm also offers farm visits and educational tours to inspire more people, especially the youth.
“We, as young farmers and advocates of agriculture, encourage the younger generation by educating them first to break the stigma that farming is a lowly profession. We instill in the minds of the younger generation that as the future successors of our aging farmers, they play an important role in the country’s food system. We tell them that there is a better future in farming and agriculture in general,” the three friends said.