MANILA, Philippines — A Department of Tourism-accredited farm in Guimba, Nueva Ecija revealed how they are winning over the challenges brought about by the pandemic.
In an exclusive interview with Philstar.com, Fern Sebastian, farmer and owner of Myriad Farm, a Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) farm school, admitted that they are also affected by the pandemic but they use the learning they acquired from different seminars to survive.
“Sobra pong affected kasi bukod po sa na-lockdown 'yung mga tao. Actually naging maganda naman ang source of income namin as a farmer siyempre bumibili lahat 'yan e,” Fern said.
“Yung malapit sa amin na area, nagsu-supply kami ng mga produce namin. 'Yung iba naman na hindi nabili, ni-process namin. Ginawa naming na tomato salsa, sauce at nabenta namin sa mataas na halaga,” she added.
Fern also said that even though they can’t deliver their goods in Manila due to lockdown, they converted their goods into different products such as jam, jellies and sauces.
“Pandemic wise, nag-survive ang mga farmers. Hindi kami makapag-deliver sa Manila but nag-iba kami ng style. Yung mga hindi mabenta, ni-dry namin, ginawa naming jam," she said.
“Actually malaking tulong yung mga trainings na naa-attendan ko. So those trainings, na-apply ko during pandemic."
Myriad Farm offers staycations that include farm training. More information could be found on its official Facebook page.
Editor's note: The tour to Myriad Farm was hosted by NLEX to promote tourism in the area. At no stage does the host organization have a say on the stories generated from the coverage, interviews conducted, publication date and story treatment. Content is produced solely by Philstar.com following editorial guidelines.