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Manila Bulletin devider Drive devider Rouen Dolot: The Backyard Farmer

Rouen Dolot: The Backyard Farmer

Published Mar 21, 2024 12:16 am

I finished a degree in BS Tourism, Hotel, and Restaurant Management and was able to work as a hotel steward at Carnival Cruise Line from June 2015 to November 2016. However, I decided to quit my job and pursue my passion for farming.

I ventured into “babuyang walang amoy” and raised a couple of fatteners and sows, but unfortunately, it didn’t go well. During those times, I also planted assorted fruit trees and various high-value vegetable crops in our small backyard.

Employee Farmer

I am currently working as a local government unit employee in Tolosa under the Municipal Agriculture Office and I am so blessed to be working where my heart is. We even have a rooftop garden in our place where I grow pechay, upland kangkong, sweet peppers, eggplants, and cucumbers on pots. On weekends, I am a full-time vegetable farmer.

rooftop garden
After his work as an employee of their Municipal Agriculture Office, he visits his farm to complete his tasks, suchas monitoring, transplanting, trellising, and many more.

At present, I venture into small-scale vegetable production from a nearby area that I borrowed. I am so lucky that the landowner just let me use his area for free without rent. In return, I share whatever harvest I have from the garden.

borrowing land
The 1,000 square meters of land borrowed by RouenDolot to start his own farm. Some of the harvested vegetables of Rouen Dolot; he also plants eggplants, sweetpeppers, bitter gourds, Japanese cucumbers, and many more.

The Backyard Farmer Occupying Online Space

The main purpose of my vegetable farming is to be able to provide safe and healthy fruits and vegetables for our family. It just happened that whenever I post my garden harvests on my Facebook page, lots of my friends are willing to buy fresh produce from the garden. That was my turning point and I decided to look for an available area for my garden expansion to be able to meet the demands of interested clients.

One of the best feelings that I love most about farming is the satisfaction I get from harvesting the crops that I grow. Knowing that I produce my own fruits and vegetables safely for our family. No matter how hard or whatever challenges I meet in growing the crops, I always keep going because it is my passion and I love what I do.

In the future, I am really hoping to acquire my own farm lot so I’ll be able to establish my own integrated farm where I'll be able to grow various high-value fruit trees and vegetables and venture into livestock and poultry farming.

With the advent of technology, I have high hopes for the future of agriculture. I am quite happy to know that a lot of young farmers like me have their interest in agriculture, the backbone of the economy.

Related Tags

agriculture agribusiness
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