Security Guard, now Farms

Security Guard now Farms by Felix B. Daray FORTY- FIVE YEARS AGO, Herly Contayoso was a security guard of a company that exported Cavendish bananas. His salary was just P230 a day. Today, he proudly cultivates 3 hectares of farmland in Cabligan, Matanao, Davao del Sur.His farm is planted to 300 mango trees and some coconuts and home to 30 goats, 4 cows, 5 pigs and native chickens. Back in 1998, the year he resigned from work, the property had nothing but cogon and stunted coconut trees. Contayoso did all the cleaning and plowing himself. And at the start, he intercropped grafted mangoes with sugar cane. “I have observed that mango trees grow fast and healthy as these are not easily infested by pest and fungus because sugarcane prevents harmful insects and stray animals to get near the trees,” Contayoso said. Intercropping also helps prevent soil erosion and build up of humus in the soil. After two years, his coconut trees started to fruit. He saved on the cost of fertilizer as his three crops shared in fertilizer. This is one of the advantages of untercropping, he said. Since then, he harvests 1,200 kilos of copra every months. Although the price of copra is erratic, it nis still an added income. He sells petioles for firewood and makes charcoal for coconut shells. In 2008,he stopped rationing the sugar cane as the mangoes were ready for fruit induction. He thought of raising animals that could feed on unwanted sugar cane shoots. He decided to raise goats as these were good docile and good clippers of weeds. More importantly, their manure was a good organic fertilizer. He started with with six does and 1 male of a hybrid species. Today he has 30 head, and he sells a newly weaned goat at P 1,500 per head and pig at P90 per kilo liveweight. His mango trees on one hand, gross around P500,000 annually. But since he has little knowledge on mango production, he has entered into sharing system. The cultivator gets 70% percent of the gross income and for this reason, Herly plans to venture solo, saying that he has already acquired enough knowledge and capital. As of now, Contayoso is waiting for another mango harvest by mid-December. He expects that it will be another bountiful harvest like one he had in 2008 when his sh. are amounted to P 170,000