From Poultry to Leisure Farm

By Zac B. Sarian

Published: May 2, 2013

NATURALLY GROWN FARM ANIMALS – Among the attractions to leisure farms visitors from the city are the naturally grown farm animals like pigs, chickens, ducks and other small animals. At the Daken Leisure Farm, the chickens and other animals are very tame and are fascinating to visitors. The pigs and free-range chickens consumed in the restaurant are, however, raised in areas far from the lodging houses.

Leisure farms can create new opportunities for people in the countryside. Just like what we have seen during a tour of the same in Taiwan from April 23 to 28.

Leisure farms are just like what we are beginning to call agri-tourism destinations in the Philippines. They are farms that offer more than just farm produce.

At the Daken Leisure Farm in the village of Daken in Tainan county in southern Taiwan, we have witnessed the progress that three generations have achieved. From simple conventional growing of broiler chickens, the Tsai family, from the grandpa and grandma Tsai to Papa and Mama Tsai, and then to the three wonderful Tsai sisters, the poultry farm has metamorphosed into a thriving destination of local and foreign tourists.

In 2012, according to Papa Tsai, some 30,000 local visitors flocked to the Daken Leisure Farm. And then there were also 5,000 foreigners who wanted to savor the invigorating environment that the leisure farm offers to visitors. Most of the foreign visitors came from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. And now the Taiwan Leisure Farm Developers Association is also targeting Vietnam and the Philippines as two other sources of foreign visitors.
While raising poultry may be a good source of income, there are also bumpy situations when there is an oversupply of chickens or if the cost of feeds is high, and profit could be jeopardized. And so the enterprising farmer has to create new sources of income.

And that is just what the Tsai family did some 20 years ago. Besides raising chickens, they started barbecuing their fowls. And since they had come up with such juicy and tasty “Litson manok,” the word spread fast and people flocked to the farm to partake of the juicy grilled chicken seasoned with aromatic herbs.
As visitors grew and grew, the Tsais also had the bright idea of adding lodging and other facilities. They now have 40 rooms with comfortable amenities, usually filled to capacity during weekends.

To this day, the barbecue chicken is a major attraction at the Daken Leisure Farm. The chicken is now free-range and so it is regarded as a healthy meat. One grilled bird costs the equivalent of P750 in Philippine money. And a lot is consumed during weekends when families bring the whole family for a feast of the famous Daken “Litson Manok.”
Of course, there are many other gastronomical delights. Aside from the baby pig lechon, there are creative concoctions of Ruby Tsai, the chef in the family. There are bamboo and mushroom cuisines, pineapple and sweet potato preparations, bamboo shoots which the place is famous for. And there is also the ubiquitous herbal tea that is served in every meal.

The Taiwanese government has been promoting the establishment of leisure farms in the countryside as a means to increase the income of people on the farms. One of the contributions of the government toward this end is the construction of roads so that the leisure farms become accessible.

Aside from road construction, the government has been providing consultants who could provide some insights to the leisure farm owners. The consultants could suggest how they can make the leisure farms more attractive to target customers. They could suggest additional activities that will bring more income to the owners.
Among the attractions in the leisure farms in Taiwan are the DIY or Do-It-Yourself activities. In the case of Daken Leisure Farm, visitors can learn to make souvenir items out of pieces of bamboo and wood available in the farm. The visitors can also learn about the different herbal plants that are either culinary or medicinal or both.

At the frontyard of the the lodging facilities, the children as well as the adults, could be fascinated by the many tame animals that just run around. These include native chickens with their brood, very friendly pigeons that will alight on your palm if you have something to feed them, rabbits, ducks and others.

Of course one could also take to the hiking trail with some 800 steps to the top of the mountain where there is a view deck that enables one to see the lush vegetation all around, down below. And then one can try taking the rope bridge across a ravine. Or one can take the cable car to cross the same.

The hiking trail goes back near where one has started. And at the end is a spa where aching nerves could be refreshed with a gentle massage, complete with aromatherapy.

What is admirable about the owners of the leisure farms, not only the Daken Leisure Farm but also the others we visited, is that the owners are very hands-on. They are very humble and very friendly. These are traits that aspiring Filipino leisure farm owners could as well acquire.

Agri Plain Talk

Zac B. Sarian

A veteran agriculture journalist who also runs a one-hectare nursery of exotic fruit trees. I am currently the Agriculture Editor of Manila Bulletin, a 113-year-old daily newspaper. My agriculture page appears every Thursday and Saturday where I write my Agri Plain Talk column. This twice weekly column has been running for more than 21 years now.

When in Cebu City, please visit http://www.gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs. Avail of the opportunity to own a condominium unit in Cebu City at the low amount of only P 9,333.33 and House and Lot @ P 7,306.81/month only. Hurry while supply of units still last. Just call the Tel. Nos. shown herein: (053)555-84-64/09155734856/09173373687/09222737836.

Planting Trees – Panacea To Ecology

By Vic Jocson Columna

Published: April 22, 2013

Trees beautify, clean and green the environment.

For almost a decade now, the world has been experiencing historic extremes in weather. The past year 2012 had a record breaking number of calamities caused by blizzards, droughts, forest fires, supertyphoons, rains, floods, landslides, heat wave, ocean acidification, Arctic ice meltdown, etc.

These struck every corner of the earth in extreme degrees. They spared no nation – the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor, the above sea and low level islands. People encountered power failures, airline shutdowns, transportation stoppages, panic buying sprees, destruction of properties and loss of lives.

Never before in our history did we have such strange disasters. It is only now when mankind so blinded and purpose driven by insatiable desire for wealth and power do we have these cataclysms of nature.

Studies revealed the weather calamities we have now are the revolt of nature which has been abused so much. Indeed, we never learned past lessons. We tend to forget the truth that the earth has enough of everything for our need but never for our greed. Though, we know it, we ignore matter-of-factly that he who loves so much wealth has never enough wealth.

According to experts, the extremes in weather we have today will become the “new normal” in our life and henceforth. It might become worse and would lead into a doomsday scenario but not instantaneous but gradual unless the peoples pool their resources, wisdom, knowledge and work together to mitigate the incursion of climate change.

God endowed us with all the indispensable characteristics we can develop, nurture and harness to sustain a life of our own choice and making but with our greed exceeding our need, nature is made to suffer by our transgressions, hence we reap the harvest of our abuse and apathy.

Climate change is upon us. The threat of calamities in increasing number and intensity is a looming reality. Certainly, we have never been good stewards of God’s magnificent creation. We have misinterpreted His command for us to subdue the earth at all costs.

Global warming is one greatest challenge the world is facing this century. The failure again of the parties which attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Doha, Qatar to reach an agreement on climate change’s posing a grim portent that more extreme calamities will come. Surely as in the past, they will wreak havoc to our vulnerable world with dire consequences of undermining our efforts for development, hence a bleak future.

However, not all developing and highly industrialized nations have a myopic outlook on global warming. They did see the reality of the hovering ecological problems, hence they responded. At the forefront is Germany whose economy is moving ahead by harnessing the solar energy as its main source of power replacing nuclear power. This disowned that solar energy slows down progress.

Germany is being looked up to as the world’s model of production, and not destruction, in economic development. The world must follow Germany’s feat to preserve Mother Nature. Not all nations can duplicate Germany’s, but for sure, any country can help the world from plunging into the quagmire of ecosystem disasters simply by planting trees.

Planting trees is doable. It is an easy and simple thing to do. It does not require much effort and big capital. No great value at all it seems. Its simpleness bespeaks of it but sometimes great thing comes from an ordinary one. Tree planting is such. It’s a good investment with the best and greatest dividend. It is not only a rewarding experience but a noble undertaking by human that lives, grows and never ceases to grow. A tree planted by man outlives him but he leaves behind a priceless, greatest and lasting legacy to the world.

Trees beautify, clean and green the environment. They cool and refresh it and help reduce noise and air pollution. They are the best protection and antidote against greenhouse effect. Moreover, they prevent floods, landslides and soil erosions as the roots of the trees whether in the mountains, hills, plains and riversides, absorb and hold water during heavy downpour.

The potency of trees has no equal in preventing and protecting nature against global warming being aggravated by the ravages of urbanization and industrialization. So natural, it has no side-effect. It proves more effective than the chemical laden remedies made by men.

As an essential part of ecology, trees not only provide food, homes and canopies for humans and animals but also serve as haven for chirping birds. Significantly, they provide much of the earth’s oxygen that offsets carbon emissions. Botanists said: “Trees are doing the reverse of humans as they breathe by ‘inhaling’ carbon dioxide , one of the major causes of greenhouse effect and climate change and exhaling oxygen which in turn is inhaled by humans and other living organisms. The cycle goes on regardless of any weather condition.”

In planting a tree, a life naturally sprouts, which serves not only a panacea to ecological suicide, but also a manifestation of our love and care to earth. Moreover, we can feel the presence of God’s invigorating breath through the tree’s stomata.

Even today’s world of concrete and steel, nuclear energy, information technology and state-of-the-art living, we need trees to live and survive. Our imperfect world becomes wonderful with the lovely trees, but this magnificent creation of God is only ours to behold and appreciate its loveliness through words. By paraphrasing the poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer, indeed, the reason is obvious:

I think that I shall never write

An article as lovely as a tree.

Articles are made by fools like me.

But only God can make a tree.

Planting trees, anyone?

(vicjcolumna@yahoo.com)

When in Cebu City, please visit http://www.gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs. Avail of the opportunity to own a condominium unit in Cebu City at the low amount of only P 9,333.33 and House and Lot @ P 7,306.81/month only. Hurry while supply of units still last. Just call the Tel. Nos. shown herein: (053)555-84-64/09155734856/09173373687/09222737836.