Blessings in disguise

Sometimes what some people consider as misfortune might actually turn out to be blessings in disguise. Just like, for instance, what happened to Nestor Urbien of Magsingal, Ilocos Sur. Urbien is an agriculture graduate who went to Saudi Arabia to work for a big dairy company there.

In the first two years, he considered his salary of $300 per month as good enough. But after that when cheap labor arrived in Saudia Arabia from countries like Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, his monthly pay was cut to only $150 a month. He could not take that and so he returned to his hometown to do his own brand of farming.

It turns out that the reduction of his pay was a blessing in disguise. He has since been making a lot more money from farming than the dollars he made from Saudi Arabia. He is now one of the most successful farmers in his province. In fact, in 2000, he was adjudged the most outstanding corn farmer of the year, receiving a cash prize of P25,000. As a regional winner, he also received a prize of P10,000.

This past season, he planted five hectares to hybrid corn and got more than seven tons per hectare which he sold at P16,000 per ton or P112,000 per hectare which he produced at a cost of about P40,000.

Ramilito Barte of Latucan, Sariaya, Quezon is another interesting story whose misfortune was a blessing in disguise. In 1994, he was a victim of a fake recruiter whom he paid more than P100,000 in supposed placement and other fees for a factory job in Taiwan. The recruiter ran away with his money and never showed up again.

Because of that misfortune, he turned to vegetable farming. He has been planting the high-yielding vegetable varieties like Morena eggplant, Diamante tomato, Django finger pepper and now Glactica ampalaya. He has been making a lot more than what he could have made as a factory in Taiwan. He has built a concrete house for his family, owns a tricycle to transport passengers, a motorcycle , and some money-making projects. He buys fattening cattle which he disperses to other farmers. Read about him in Panorama magazine this Sunday, April 5.

By ZAC B. SARIAN

Source: Manila Bulletin

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