French expat shows way to manage world-class farm

AGGIE UPDATES

Laycha K. Marra and Alpine L. Killa

TADIAN, Mountain Province- “Good morning, welcome to Layog Country Farm,!” the owner greets us sweetly as she offers a cup of fresh lemon grass tea and makes every visitor feels welcome.

Members of the Provincial Small Medium Enterprise Development (PSMED) Council visited the farm recently as part of Small and Medium Entrepreneur’s week.

Layog Country farm is owned by Flordelina Layog who prefers to be called Auntie Lina. She shared how the farm came to be and the best practices on their ways in managing the area.

A sociologist by profession, Auntie Lina sold her property in France and invested in the 26-acre land here in Kayan West.  Working abroad was great but the calling to come home couldn’t wait, she came home and founded the farm on May 21, 2013.

Fifty years ago, Auntie Lina’s father had introduced to them the value of the land. Their father believed that the land is a source of life, wherever you may be, one way or another it will provide for you. Instilled in her mind all the memories and advices given by their father, she pursues her dad’s dream. 

Auntie Lina said she decided to put the farm to life again, putting into practice the good agricultural techniques learned from forefathers as best option, but also with infusion of modern sustainable farming technologies and systems.

It was her dream to retain the farm, retain the mountain, and retain the good cultural and sustainable farming practices of our forefathers. “I have my own identity. I am an Igorota. We have lots of practices that are sustainable,” she said. 

For someone who experienced climbing up and going down the mountain carrying harvest agricultural produced to the market since there was no road during their time, Auntie Lina wanted children to be proud of having their parents as farmers. “Farming is a profession itself. I want that locals employed here in the farm to be proud that they are farmers,” she added.

She admitted that opening the farm was not easy. Auntie Lina shared to the group that it was difficult for her to leave the farm while it was starting to operate, but she has no choice because she sometimes has to go back home to France and Norway to visit her children.

Managing the farm to what she refers to as “remote control” or phone call every time she is not around was even harder. Despite this, she did not quit. She believed that no matter how rough the road will be, she will make it.

After all the problems, it does seem all the work Auntie Lina put into farm paid off. Recognized by the International Tourism Organization, the farm accommodates volunteers from the Work- Away Group. These volunteers come from different countries and have different professions. So far, volunteers from 32 countries have stayed and worked at the farm for a week or two at most. There were also those who are from Visayas and Mindanao.

The youngest was a three-year old Chinese volunteer and the oldest was a 62-year old Engineer from Finland. These volunteers were given tasks such as planting fruits, vegetables and flowers, weeding, vermi-culture composting, taking care of the livestock’s, bamboo planting, making patopat and other tasks where they can learn about farming. They work six hours a day and during weekends, they go out and visit other areas or tourist spots they want to see.

Having volunteers from different countries, intercultural exchange is experienced by the local farmers and the volunteers. They learn from each other’s culture, it is more of the volunteers learning the culture of Igorots as farmers, how they live, how they are.

Individuals who are interested to experience farming the Layog way may do so. A registration of Php1, 500 for the one to two (maximum) week stay is needed.  Layog Country Farm has two cottages that can accommodate a total of eight volunteers at the same time.  Each cottage is complete with kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. The bedrooms are to be shared by two person and the cottage has a capacity for four persons. Aside from the board and lodging, food is provided which is usually harvested from the farm produced.

The farm has been accredited as a training site by the Agricultural Training Institute of the Department of Agriculture on January 2016. Recently, it is the first ecology oriented farm to be accredited as a tourist destination in the Cordillera region.

Provincial Director Juliet P. Lucas of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) – Mountain Province commended the management of the Layog Country Farm for its very fast phase development. 

While things cannot happen overnight, Lucas remarked that developments in the farm is visible such as the inclusion of bamboo propagation, vermi-culture composting, and others. Aside from the farm practicing organic farming; it was also accredited as a training site and an Agri-tourist destination which are manifestations that the “remote control” management of Auntie Lina did help.

For Auntie Lina, farming is a passion. This is the reason that she does not mind flying back and forth from Philippines to oversee her dream farm to visiting her children in Norway and France. As she said, “you cannot delegate the passion to another.”