That is why the Younis Farm in Dandan never ceases to grow a variety of vegetables.
Noli Laborte, the lone farmer of the approximately 1.5-hectare Younis Farm, always makes sure seedlings for the next batch are ready before the plot of a particular vegetable crop dries up after a harvest.
The farm is not vast but Laborte believes ceasing its operation will result in a reduced supply of vegetables — and higher prices.
Tilling the farm four times a year is also performing service to the community, he said.
He said his produce has only one buyer but this individual has more than one stall at the Saturday market in Susupe and at the Tuesday market at the Garapan Fishing Base.
The Younis Farm, Laborte said, produces more than a dozen types of vegetables every quarter. These include tomato, eggplant, okra, string beans, pumpkin and hot pepper.
He also plants corn and sweet potato.
The farm is surrounded by fruit-bearing trees like calamansi, jackfruit, soursop, banana and coconuts.
Laborte said sweet potato is their most profitable and saleable produce. The farm yields 450 pounds of “kamuti” each harvest time.
Corn is as saleable as sweet potato but does not bring in the same volume compared to sweet potato.
All these plants take about three months to be ready for harvest, Laborte said. He then makes sure the next batch of plants is ready.
In one year, he said the farm grows four batches of different vegetable. But once these are ready for harvest, the yields don’t go to the market at one time. On Tuesday morning, he will harvest an amount good enough for the market on that day. On Friday, he will harvest just enough for the Sabalu market.
These harvests are for Tuesday and Saturday markets before a particular batch is completely harvested and the plot ready for tilling again.
Nurture
Laborte uses the same fertilizer and pesticides other farmers on island commonly utilize.
To make the soil healthier, he uses Guano Triple 16. A sack of 50 kilograms is enough for the farm.
Laborte also has to get rid of grass and weeds by pulling them one by one.
“That is the hardest task. It takes me about three days to finish all the plots,” he added.
Planting seedlings takes him an entire day to finish.
Once the plants start growing, he uses insecticides Sevin Concentrate and Malathion 50.
Laborte uses the drip method when watering the plants.
Drip irrigation is popularly known as the best method for irrigating crops.
It consists of drippers made of rubber pipes and PVC pipes connected to every plant on the farm. The water is uniformly distributed to the plants in the form of drops.
The drops directly flow into the roots thus avoid flooding of nearby areas.
Laborte said he uses this method every other day.
Younis Farm has been providing food on the table since the mid-1980s.
