Farmer Awardee Attributes Success to DA

“The Department of Agriculture (DA) has molded me to become what I am now: a farmer and a businessman’, said Danilo Calamba, 30, of Bilar, Bohol, the regional awardee for outstanding rice farmer.

Calamba received P30,000 cash award,a trophy and other items from DA 7.

Born of farmer parents in Bilar, Calamba graduated from Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in Tagbilaran City.

But after graduating, he opted to till his 10- hectare rice farms rather than look for employment.

Calamba maintains 3 tractors and 2 rice threshers, the most important equipment needed for successful rice farming.

But aside from maintaining his low lands for rice farming, he also utilizes his uplands as a little forest of more or less 10,000 Lawaan and Mahogany trees. He also has a plantation of different fruit crops such as coconut, bananas, and root crops such as sweet potato and other root crops.

His wife also manages their gasoline station and a three-door apartment in Tagbilaran City, a few kilometer-distance from Bilar, where his home was located.

Calamba couple who are blessed with two siblings was chosen as the outstanding rice farmer because of their love on farming.

The couple were blessed with one son and a daughter who are both studying in an elementary school in Bilar.

“It is DA that helps me to become what I am now”, the phrase which he stresses many times, because according to him, he owes his success now only from DA.

Calamba, during his younger days, was chosen as regional outstanding leader of 4-H Club, an organization of young farmers, until he also became a national 4-H club leader.

In 2003, he was sent by DA 7 to Japan for a one year farm study.

When he came home in 2004, he bought more parcel of lands adjacent to his parents rice farms and this is the one he actually cultivated now for rice plants.

“We have no irrigation but our plants are sustained merely through rains and rain-feed farms are supposedly cannot survive without a natural water from heaven, but in our case we are very thankful to God because He always blesses us with rains every now and then to allow our plants to grow, so that we can harvest two times a year”, he said.

When the 7.2 magnitude earthquake grilled Bohol on October 15, 2014, Calamba noticed that his harvests declined in remarkable level.

Now, everything is back to normal, their rice harvest also neutralized to achieve a rehabilitation to, he said.

Calamba, the youngest among the 7 siblings, said all his brothers and sisters have graduated from their respective courses, but still they are there in Bohol to continue tilling their farms.

“So I prefer myself to be called as farmer who became a businessman because that is now my real life”, Calamba said.