Tadian, Mtn. Prov.– Some farmers in Mountain Province visited the acclaimed Layog Farm located at Kayan West, Tadian, Mountain Province as part of the two-day activity of the Agribusiness Support for Promotion and Investment in the Regional Exposition (ASPIRE) road show on Sept. 5-6, 2-19 in this tourist destination.
The activity was organized and facilitated by the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region.
Before the farm tour, the farmers were given an orientation on the programs and activities and management of the farm by the farm caretaker Jeremy Kurt Layog.
The farm is a 27-ha mountainous terrain. When the late Alfonso Layog Sr. (married to Julia Kiat-ong of Bontoc) died, the operation of the farm was abandoned. However, Flor de Lina Layog and her siblings decided to revive the farm. According to her, this is to give due respect to the old man Layog who once said, “take care of the land and the land will take care of you.”
Due to its continuing contribution to the field of traditional agriculture and forestry and learning by doing, the farm was accredited by the following: 1st in CAR as an Agro-tourism Farm Site by DOT-CAR; Farm School and Assessment Center by TESDA-Mtn. Province, and as Training Center for Organic Agriculture by Agriculture Technical Institute-DA-CAR.
It also received citations from the provincial government of Mountain Province for the promotion of sustainable development in areas of agriculture and tourism using the Igorot cultural principles, knowledge and skills, and First Agro-Tourism Farm in the Cordillera Administrative Region given by the Department of Agriculture.
Tourists, domestic and foreign, pay certain fees depending on the number of days they will stay in the farm. The money paid is used to pay for their food and lodging.
Some foreign volunteers taught the local guests in the preparation of organic fertilizers, painting, landscaping, and other knowledge and skills.
In cases where there were festivals or cultural affairs in the nearby communities, the volunteers were allowed to go and interact with the people thru dancing, playing the gongs, exchanging pleasantries, eating the traditional food and drinking the native wine.
Amenities found inside the farm are a conference hall that serves as chapel during Sundays, lodging houses, view decks and rest areas made of traditional materials, a permaculture park, and a “farmacy” or café that offers pancakes, lemon grass tea, malunggay/dragon fruit cakes cum store selling organic vegetables and fruits.**Francis B. Degay
