Young IT graduate and agri program recipient now farms full time, reclaims pawned farmland

by: Vic Thor Palarca

Agusan del Sur- When Dheben Jean T. Alvarez was still in college as an Information Technology student, her parents made the difficult decision to pawn their 0.7-hectare farmland in Barangay Violanta, Loreto, Agusan del Sur to finance her studies. This deliberate sacrifice reflected their high hopes that Dheben would secure a decent job soon and provide income support for the family. Motivated by their sacrifice and trust, Dheben vowed to study, work hard, and reclaim the farmland.

In 2024, Dheben was among the first batch of eleven interns in the Youth Internship Program for Organic Agriculture (YIPOA), deployed to the San Isidro Parish Binucayan Area Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SIPBAFAMCO) in a nearby barangay. For nine months, Dheben immersed herself in hands-on farm activities like tending rice fields, gardening, feeding pigs, and harvesting crops, altogether gaining valuable organic farming experience.

The Youth Internship Program on Organic Agriculture (YIPOA) is a 21-month internship program designed to empower youth and advance organic agriculture practices. It consists of a nine-month on-site training with farm partners, followed by a one-year hands-on implementation of the proposed organic enterprise. The program aims to provide young minds with a hands-on experience in organic agriculture, fostering a deeper understanding of sustainable farming practices and instilling a sense of responsibility for environmental stewardship. The program also offers start-up support and mentoring for the implementation of business plans, empowering the youth to become organic agripreneurs, according to a posted document online by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).

Also, YIPOA is a funded program by the National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) implemented by the ATI.

During the 21-month duration of the program, Dheben successfully completed the 9-month internship followed by a one-year implementation of her organic rice production project. Her determination in farming motivated her to save, combining her monthly YIPOA allowance of 10,000 PHP, as well as earnings from two cropping seasons to reclaim her parent’s pawned farmland. This personal mission became the driving force behind her farming success.

Seeing how she fared well in her organic rice farming, YIPOA granted her a start-up capital of 150,000 PHP. She credits both YIPOA and the ATI for equipping her with the farming knowledge and opportunities essential to her organic rice farming achievements.

“Ang YIPOA maayo nga opportunity sa goberno kay dako kaayo sya ug tabang sa akoa nga maka-pondar ug maka-sugod sa among uma. Dako sad ug tabang ang mga trainings ug mga kahibalo nga gi-share sa ATI” (YIPOA is a great government program that helped me start and invest in our farm. The trainings and shared knowledge from ATI were very helpful) she said. Her gratitude extends especially to Arlyn Arnuza, the area’s agricultural technician and Organic Agriculture (OA) focal person, whose encouragement eventually led her to apply for the internship.

Now at 25, Dheben considered working abroad to apply her IT skills but later decided against it because it would mean leaving her two children and the thriving rice farm she established behind, which can generate 50,000 PHP per cropping season. She believed that by dedicating her efforts to developing the organic rice farm, it could become the family’s main source of income.

Aside from her family’s farm, Dheben rents additional farmland from a relative, expands income by running a sari-sari store with her parents, sells coconut wine or tuba, as well as livestock and poultry such as chicken, ducks, cows, and garden variety vegetables. While Dheben plans and manages the farming operations, her husband supports by handling all the physical labor. Together, their diversified income streams can generate up to 30,000 PHP monthly.

A proud advocate of organic farming, Dheben successfully convinced her parents to transition from conventional farming to organic farming. From the get go, her rice farm clearly reflects her organic farming practice, highlighted by the presence of buffer zones—strategic crop plantings around the rice field that protect the rice crops from contamination by nearby conventional farms. She planted cassava, lemongrass, string beans, napier grass, and madre de cacao. In addition to buffer zones, Dheben maintains a filter pond to purify water before it seeps into her tilapia fishpond, ensuring a sustainable and healthy farming ecosystem.

With two years of dedicated experience in organic farming and a certified organic rice farm project to her credit, Dheben exemplifies perseverance and unwavering determination, making her a role model in her community. As a committed practitioner of organic agriculture, she actively serves as Chairperson of the Credit Curriculum in SIPBAFAMCO. Although she is still at the beginning of her journey as a young and promising farmer, Dheben finds joy and fulfillment in honoring her commitment to reclaim her parents’ farmland while inspiring others to adopt sustainable organic farming practices.