The Organic farmer in the small town of Tupi

He was a home boy, but already a wide reader and a techie when he was a kid. Agriculture as a vocation was not in his dream, but his mother was very fond of gardening and his father was a week-end farmer. His father would usually bring his children in the farm during weekend and Ernesto would not really love going to the farm because there was no electricity then, no music, no telephone and most of all no playmates.

His first farm-job experience in early teens was breaking cacao pods and selling pure tablea produced in their own home around the town of Marbel during summer vacation. After graduating from highschool and passing the 1975 UPCAT (UP College Admission Test – Los Banos) his father advised him to take up Agriculture, since somebody has to manage the farm, Ernesto being an obedient child, and respectful of parents advise yielded and took up BS Agricultural Engineering so he can also be called an Engineer just like his father.

Fortunately, it was also at these times (late 80s thru the 90s) that the concept of Organic Agriculture was introduced to Ernesto by his extensive readings on & interest on agriculture and networking he has done during the annual trade exhibits he was attending in Manila particularly the Asian Ethnic Food Festival in the Philippine International Trade Center (PITC) where he met Organic Agriculture farmers and eventually joined their group Organic Producers and Trade Association of the Philippines (OPTA) which also organized the first organic certification body (OCCP). It was also about this time that Ernesto also met and collaborated with the group of Romano Laurilla, Betsy Ruizo and their group who founded the now famous Don Bosco Cooperative, who advocated biodynamic farming, the group has made Kablon Farm and example of upland organic farming to their farmers/partners. Eventually the farm applied for an organic certification and was granted an organic certification on the year 2000-2003 and as one of the first farms in the Philippines certified as organic by OCCP.
In spite of having not renewed the organic certification by the OCCP for the subsequent years after the first certification, Kablon Farm has remained organic in its crop production practices. For its processing division they set it a company policy to produce only ALL NATURAL products. Last year, they eventually got their Organic Certification for Crop Production renewed and eventually their Cacao Processing for their Pure Tablea, Roasted Cacao Nibs, Cacao Powder & cocoa butter. For this current year, they hope to get certification for their Virgin Coconut to get the full economic potential of its Organic Certification. To further update Ernesto knowledge on Organic Agriculture he has enrolled himself and his Farm Assistant Mario Macasero to NC2 Organic Agriculture course of ATI in Tantangan, South Cotabato thus paving their way into making their own Vermi plots, vermi compost production and other farm inputs such as Fermented Fruit Juice (FFJ), Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ), Indigenous Micro Organism (IMO), Vermi Tea and CalPhos. The knowledge transfer and practice has a significant contribution on the farm productivity particularly on the yield of their Cacao and Coconuts.

This year, the company has made history being the first farm in Region 12 to export their Fine Flavored Dried Cacao beans to the Neatherlands, Europe and Tokyo, Japan. Ernesto is looking forward in sustaining the progress the farm has attained and also hoping to convince other farmers to shift to organic agriculture and consumers to patronize their produce.
After about almost 20 years of practicing organic farming, Kablon Farm has been awarded several recognition such as Gawad Saka Award for HVC processing year 2000, Most Innovative Product Award given by the Department of Trade & Industry. These awards would however, remain meaningless flattery until other farmers imitate what they are doing and consumers patronize products they produce lamented by Ernesto.

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