In Viterbo, Italy, a good two hours drive away from Rome, a Filipino farmer is showing the way in natural farming in a foreign land leasing lands from rich Italians which he uses in planting vegetables and fruits the natural way.
While Filipino farmers back home lease their lands to multi-nationals, Rammer Serrano, originally from Pampanga, and his wife, Kathleen Cubillas from Agusan del Sur, and their children Cedric and Vanessa, are farming an estimated 40-hectares of some of the best lands in Viterbo which were rented out by the landowners, mostly rich Italians.
In these farms, Serrano, cousin of Agriculture Undersecretary Fred Serrano, plants Zucchini, eggplants, onion, watermelon and many other fruits and vegetables the natural way.
Ramer is so successful that he has established three outlets all over Italy, not including the farm site stalls which he opens along the side of the roads near his farm that draws Italians who are so enamoured by the goods which he grew the natural way.
Two days before the start of the 40th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome which I chaired, Senator Cynthia Villar, who attended the opening of the FAO Conference along with Cong. Jose Panganiban, and I visited Ramer’s farm in Viterbo.
We visited four sites of Rammer’s farms and appreciated how a simple Filipino overseas worker, using his natural talent in farming, rose to become a successful agricultural entrepreneur in a country where he is not even a citizen.
“Marami pa pong gusto mag-lease ng kanilang lupa, pero hindi ko na kaya,” Ramer said.
Rammer said many more lands, including those owned by the Church, are being offered for lease because the Italians like his natural farming method which allows the soil to fallow or rest after harvesting.
On the day Sen. Villar, Ambassador Ding Nolasco and I visited his farm, an Italian Countess who just lost her husband was among those who joined us for lunch under tents set up in the open field.
Rammer said his success is mainly because while he embraces the natural farming method, he has applied modern technology in his farming like the use of farm machineries and good quality seeds and planting materials.
As a Filipiino, I felt so proud of Rammer’s accomplishments.
How I wish that one day, in the not so distant future, Filipino farmers in this country will no longer have to lease their lands and they would be able to manage their farms all by themselves.
Helping the Filipino farmer stand on his own and lift himself out of poverty is a daunting challenge but it is not an impossible dream.
I know that under President Rody Duterte dramatic changes will happen in the agriculture and fisheries sector.
(Photos of Ramer Serrano and his farm, including Senator Cynthia Villar, were taken by Usec Fred Serrano, Mayette Tudlas and Bong Piñol)
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