“It starts at the pump, but ends in the soil.”
For Thelma T. Alabon, 63, of San Mariano, Isabela, this is the reality of rice farming. When fuel prices go up, fertilizer prices follow, and for farmers like her, that’s a direct hit to the pocket.
But Alabon did not see rising costs affect her harvests. She used a mix of common sense and hard work to turn things around, raising her yield from a measly 1.25 t/ha to a whopping 10 t/ha.
The “DIY” turnaround
Determined to improve, Alabon looked at what she already had. She produced organic fertilizer from rice straw and plant residues such as banana, coconut, pepper, and lettuce, reducing dependence on costly inorganic inputs while improving soil health.
“Even before we had access to more support, we were already making organic fertilizer manually to cut costs,” she shared.
By making her own compost, she didn’t just save money but started fixing the soil that had been weakened by years of chemicals. A “hack” born out of necessity: if you can’t buy it, make it
Beating the market
Alabon also knew she couldn’t control oil and fertilizer prices, so she controlled her timing instead. She started buying inorganic fertilizers two months before the planting season even began.
“When prices are still low, we make sure to buy early,” she said.
This simple move shielded her from the sudden price hikes that usually happen when everyone is rushing to plant. It was a smart hack that kept her budget steady.
Precision over guesswork
Her turning point came when she attended training conducted by PhilRice. She stopped guessing and applied the right EAT of nutrient management: element, amount, and time.
“I realized that using too little fertilizer was just as harmful as using too much, which was a waste of money,” she added.
When she combined this precision with high-yielding hybrid rice, her harvest grew and her income followed, averaging about PhP150,000 per harvest.
Legacy
For Alabon, an Outstanding Rural Woman Awardee in 2023, a part of her success is that her farm sent all three of her children to college. They graduated as a radiologic technologist, a criminologist, and a civil engineer.
She is also a local farmer technician, guiding fellow farmers and sharing practical strategies she tested in her own field.
Today, she is no longer just tilling her own land; she is running a farm school established in 2020 with support from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund Program through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. Here, she passes on her hacks to others.
She teaches her students that they just need a bit of wit and the willingness to adapt to the rising costs of farming. As she always reminds those she mentors: “It starts at the pump, but ends in the soil.”
Fuel and fertilizers may help start the work, but a good harvest still begins with healthy soil and the farmer’s wit and grit to make every resource count.
