Hydroponics veggie farmer captures local market

Slowly but surely, the local institutional market for fresh salad vegetables, herbs and spices is being recaptured by a local hydroponics farmer operating a 6.5-hectare fully mechanized and computer-operated greenhouse facility in Silang, Cavite that produces year-round such pricey veggies as leafy lettuces, bell peppers, herbs and spices, tomatoes, carrots and alfalfa sprouts, all of which were previously bought from Australia.

Called the Basic Necessity – both the company name and brand name of the products grown in Silang – the eight-hectare farm is gaining quite a following among local residents and vacationers from Tagaytay City. At a small store fronting the farm one can buy veggies anytime of the year at 35 to 40 percent less than prices of these products sold in high and stores and restaurants in Metro Manila and other cities of the country.

Owned and operated by Lyndon Co Tan, Basic Necessity operates production and post production machines that can only be found there. One such facility is the vacuum cooler, where after selection, cleaning and packaging, the vegetables are removed of their heat and unwanted bacteria up to 1 degree Celsius temperature before being loaded in one of three maintaining refrigeration/cooling rooms of 4 degree Celsius before being loaded in reefer vans for transport to Metro Manila.

Another is the fine spray, user friendly machine where liquid fertilizer and pesticides can be produced without harming the rest of the environment in Cavite nor the farmers transplanting seeds placed by a seeding machine into the tray beds.

While some of the lettuces are planted on the ground, the soil-less area use coco peats, husk and rice shells arranged in neat rows that are defined by the number of days the vegetables are standing and which ones are ready for harvest.

Tan, who has had a lot of exposure on modern farming techniques from all over the world, draws much of his inspiration on hydroponics and soil-less farming from Israel, where despite vast arid deserts can still grow vegetation. Also, he has visited hydroponics farms in Australia and America, where he easily obtained technical information.

Basic Necessity’s main retail outlets are the Rustan’s chain, the Gaisano Mall in Cebu, the malls in Amampola, Palawan and even malls in Gen. Santos and other well developed markets in Mindanao and the Visayas. Resorts in Tagaytay and Batangas, in fact, order from him regularly, where before they used to wait for their importation.

Such an accomplishment, however, is not yet enough for this Gawad Saka awardee and Farmer of the Year for High Value Commercial Crops for 2002. He most recently got awarded by the Philippine Jaycees in its over four decades search for Ten Outstanding Young Men. (The 2003 TOYM Search national chairman is Rafael Dizon III and JC International president is Michael Allan Z. Ranillo).

Tan was nominated to the TOYM 2003 search by no less than Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo Jr. and Region 4 Director Dennis Araullo. Till his name was called, he could not believe why he was ever entered into such a tilt.