By Carmencita A. Carillo
Correspondent
MARAGONDON, CAVITE — I want to be a farmer when I grow up.
This is what the owners of Terra Verde EcoFarm here would like to hear as they cultivate their farm tourism site as a venue for inspiring the young to engage in agriculture.
“The value proposition now is that our children can be doctors, teachers, information technology professionals, and farmers,” Terra Verde Ecofarm President Erickson B. Atanacio said in a recent interview.
“They can get any degree they want but we should make them realize that they can also become farmers,” added Mr. Atanacio, a former aerospace engineer.
The farm has been under development for the past 11 years, since it was purchased by the family in 2007, initially as a private farm.
“We are redefining to our children the definition of the rich, not the one who has the most but one who needs the least. We call our children free-range farm kids, because here at the farm they can explore and engage,” Mr. Atanacio said.
“Most city-bred kids will run away when they see bugs, but our free-range kids go where the bugs are because they learn about the species, what they do and what they eat up close and personal, not just in the laboratory setting,” he said.
Terra Verde Ecofarm is accredited by the Department of Tourism as a farm tourism destination, and also serves as an Extension Service Provider (ESP) of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).
Republic Act 10816, the Farm Tourism Law, was enacted in 2016 to encourage people to recognize the important of agriculture and at the same time improve the livelihood of Filipino farmers.
As an ESP, it regularly hosts farmers, nongovernment organizations and other groups that want to learn about integrated, diversified farming systems.
Dr. Maria Celeste H. Cadiz, program head of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) Knowledge Management Department, said the current average age of Filipino farmers is 57, and the country needs to encourage the young generation to venture into agriculture.
“There are many ways to promote farm tourism and you need not own vast tracts of land to be able to establish a farm tourism destination,” Ms. Cadiz said in an interview.
Terra Verde EcoFarm, for example, started with just one hectare and has now grown to 32 hectares.
Mr. Atanacio said even backyard farmers can engage in agri-tourism.
“We teach farmers to raise pigs without the smell, no flies and no water polluting the rivers, so they can even do this in their backyards without the neighbors complaining,” he said, “To expand, they can start encouraging their neighbors to raise their own pigs as well following our methods and start a social enterprise and make it community agriculture.”
Understanding that urban children might not be eager to visit a farm, Mr. Atanacio said the Ecofarm has put in modern attractions such as a race track for remote control (RC) car racing, and an area for RC planes.
After RC racing, he said, the children could then take the farm tour, which includes meeting an Albino carabao, wild boars, ostriches, and other animals.
There are also facilities for an overnight stay, with stargazing and campfires offered as evening activities.
“We are among the few areas where you can still see fireflies. They are disappearing because of light pollution,” he said.

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