our original product is organic brown rice, and we sell the rice from our family's fields here, and from our subcontracted farmers. Due to land reform, the amount of land owned by one person is limited.
We grow rice on the fields owned by various family members (who get part of the profit, of course) but essentially most of the family's land went to the farmers under land reform many years ago... we subcontract many of these farmers to grow rice for us: they trust us to buy their crop and treat them honestly..., and we also buy specialty rice from other organic farmers to sell under our brand name.
Kuya supervises the planting and growing of the rice crop, and helps our contract farmers in this by getting seedlings, organic fertilizer, and at harvest time, helps with the machinery to thresh the crop. Essentially a "hands on" farming project, and this is where we get most of our income.
But it also means we pay for drying, milling, packing, storage and delivery of the product to the stores, mainly in Manila, where we sell the product.
The growing middle class prefers organic food so there is a market for it.
But we now have another rice brand: one is now run by Joy in nearby Bulacan, essentially a coop type business, which teaches and supervises farmers to grow and sell organic rice. Because it isn't "our" land, this rice is sold under a different name, and we don't make a lot of money off of the product.
She is working with the Dept of Agriculture in this and is busy marketing the product.
Joy just got an article written about her and the business in Marid's Agribusiness digest. (alas not on line).
but here is their video from their facebook page.
One of the worries of the Taal volcano is that the ash will poison the newly planted winter/dry season crop. (this 2017 article about the Mayon volcano eruption discusses the problem)
here it remains hazy and I am staying indoors: I walked the dog using a mask, and except for the haze I didn't see any dust on the ground, but when I got home, I started wheezing so I will stay indoors as much as possible.
Pray for the poor and elderly who have lung problem: I suspect we'll get a lot of requests this evening for people seeking money to go to the ER or buy medicine.
And in nearby Bulacan we hear reports the dust is a lot worse.
I have to laugh at the "small volcano" meme used to describe the eruption: The small volcano is a new volcano in the midst of a lake that is a huge caldera. Hopefully the huge caldera won't erupt, just the small outlet letting off some steam and lava.
CNN:History of Taal eruptions.
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updatee:
A bulletin released Monday said, "DA RFO (regional field office) IV-A has reported initial damages and losses for coffee, corn and livestock at ₱74.55 million affecting 752 hectares and 102 animal head. Coffee is the most affected commodity at ₱73.96 million." Apart from these losses, the DA added 6,000 fish cages could potentially be damaged, with production loss seen at 15,053 metric tones "since fishkill is expected in Taal Lake, due to high sulfur content brought by the volcanic eruption, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)."
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