Technological advancement and farm mechanization has been a long and tedious process for many developing nations. Can the help and dedication of the youths in pursuing agricultural development in the country be the way? Can this be the game changer that the country's agricultural sector has been clamoring for?

At 26 (as of writing), Christian Paulo Magsino's story on the struggles he faced early on as a young farmer and how he's paving the way to his own success will hopefully show the future generation the positive, and sometimes unseen side of agriculture. As more youths get into agriculture, the hope for a younger, technologically-inclined agricultural future could well and truly be the way to go.

UNBROKEN PROMISE

Christian Paulo owns and manages the BH Roque Integrated Farm – a farm owned by his late grandfather, Engr. Bienvenido Roque.

Like many grandfather-grandson story, Christian Paulo had a very close relationship with his grandfather.
At a young age, his grandfather always took him to the farm, exposing him to a life he would later on take. Coming from a family of land developers, his grandfather was the only one who ventured into agriculture.

When his grandfather passed away, the farm was surveyed and appraised to turn the five-hectare farm into a subdivision. But because Christian Paulo promised his grandfather that he would never sell the farm land, he resigned from his work and started his journey as a young farmer.

In 2019, Christian Paulo launched the BH Roque Integrated Farm. Previously, their farm only focused on rice seed production, but when he took over, he transformed the farm into an integrated farm for a more sustainable farming practice.

"Para makapag survive at maging sustainable, kailangan may iba pang pagkukunan, hindi lang sa rice," Christian Paulo said.

In line with integration, his farm included livestock for breeding and production. These include free range and native chicken, Peking duck and duck production. Apart from rice, he's also ventured into vegetable production, hydroponics, high value crop production, aquaculture, rice seed production and pigmented rice production.

MECHANIZATION AS A GAME CHANGER

"Ang mga farmers natin, hindi sila maniniwala kung hindi nila makikita at na-eexperience yung sinasabi mo (na bagong farm technologies)," Christian Paulo shared.

Farming at 23 years old then gave Christian Paulo the advantage of time. This allowed him to learn from his mistakes and experiences, as well as to try new strategies.

This new strategy, apart from farm integration, included the mechanization of his farm – which was one hurdle he had to get over. "Noong nagsimula ako, thresher lang gamit namin dito. Ang mga tauhan ko ayaw sa mechanization, ayaw sa transplanter, sa harvester, pero ngayon gumagamit na kami."

While Christian Paulo was for mechanizing, he had to convince his farm workers to adopt the practice by educating on its benefits. While hesitant at first, his farmworkers have now welcomed the addition of machines in their farm and are now able to operate the farm's machines.

"Kaya nag-experiment kami sa mga machines. Nagtanim kami gamit ang transplanter at nag manual planting din. Pinagkumpara namin ito from planting, recovery, hanggang harvesting.
Sila mismo [his farmworkers] ang nakapagsabi nung nakita nila ang resulta," Christian Paulo said.

Switching from traditional to mechanized farming showed how fast, easy, and efficient their farm works became. In a hectare of land, what used to take them days of manual planting (with 10 -15 laborers) took just a day of transplanting with the walk-behind transplanter. Harvesting was a similar story. With their rice combine harvester, their three to four days' worth of manual work now only takes two hours.

INTEGRATING FARM PRACTICES

Christian Paulo's mission was to prove that even at a young age, he can become a successful role model and inspiration to all aspiring young farmers and entrepreneurs not only in Isabela but also to the nation.

A few years into his farming ventures, not only has Christian Paulo integrated his farm, he's also managed to become an accredited partner of TESDA, serving as a Farmers' Field School under the Rice Competitiveness Fund (RCEF). He's now training farmers on effective and efficient farm practices.

"Gusto kong patunayan na hindi hadlang ang pagiging bata para maging matagumpay sa farming, at kung maging successful man ako one day, may sumunod at may gumaya sa'kin", he added.