No Free Lunch

nothing comes from nothing...

2011-12-12T14:44:00.001-08:00

all projects did not turn out too well but I am trying...

Updates - Tilapia Breeding Project, Pakil Station

2010-02-24T00:04:00.000-08:00

We are now converting this project from being a breeding station to a "fry-to-fingerling" grow-out operations, with a capacity of more than 2M fries at any given time.

Returns are amazing on paper - almost 500% in 2 months, even at a mortality rate of 50%. Let's see if we can realize the revenue forecast at a very much reduced mortality rate.

All fingerlings that cannot be sold shall be raised in our fish cages in the same area, which shall be subject of a different blog entry.

Updates - Tilapia Breeding Project, Pila Station

2010-02-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

We have started stocking our ponds with breeders, and to-date we have 4,000 female and 800 male tilapia breeders in 4 separate ponds. These are soon to produce fry, which, after hardening, shall be then sent to our Breeding Station in Pakil, Laguna for grow-out to fingerlings.

This "fry-to-fingerling" grow-out is a project by itself and promises a very handsome return on investment, which we shall post once validated.

Updates - Parakeet Breeding Project

2010-02-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

We have now 100 pairs of birds, and a lot of these pairs are now with eggs, with some having already successfully hatched their clutches.

We are now looking into aggressive expansion by March, as the demand for these feathered fellows is getting strong- I am told that the Philippines is now exporting to other countries.

We shall also be soon branching out to finches, African love birds, and maybe some small parrots, bantam chicken, and ornamental pigeons.

Updates - Native Pig Breeding Project

2010-02-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

4 of my sows gave birth to 29 healthy piglets about a week ago - 10 females, 19 males.

We are hoping that the weather holds up so that these piglets can grow healthy, for commercial reasons - there is now an order placed for 20 piglets, priced at P1,800 per head.

Updates - Broiler Chicken Project

2010-02-05T23:53:00.001-08:00

We are set to harvest our first batch of broiler chicken in Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas.

Mortality management requires drastic improvements, and it is hoped that with the change in personnel, that such improvement is realized.

We have programmed this project in a way that after this first harvest, we have a continuous supply of at least 200 heads, on a weekly basis. We shall soon expand to 500 heads a week, depending on farm gate prices, and the performance of our new crew.

Native Pig Breeding Project - Famy, Laguna

2010-01-28T19:22:00.000-08:00

We've always been fascinated with native pigs due mainly to its hardiness. We currently have 1 boar from Negros Occidental, 1 sow from Negros Occidental, and 7 sows from Quezon.

I will be picking up 4 gilts on Saturday at Talavera, Nueva Ecija to ensure fresh blood comes into my stock and inbreeding is avoided.

We tie these pigs under trees and in places where we want grass cleaned up. These pigs are a lot better than our goats in eating up grass and they also do their share in tilling the soil.

7 of the sows we have are now heavily pregnant, and we expect a lot of piglets by next month.

Parakeet Breeding Project - Antipolo, Rizal

2010-01-28T18:47:00.000-08:00

Late last year, we partnered with an aviary operator, and we set up our parakeet breeding project.

The target is to have 100 pairs by the first quarter, 250 pairs by mid year, and 500 pairs by end of year. We have 80 pairs as of the moment, and 20 cages on stand-by for 20 more pairs to complete our first quarter target.

Financials for this real good, especially as demand for this bird seems to be really strong. The projected rate of return for this venture is 20% per month starting March 1. We have already 5 pairs who have successfully hatched eggs, and a lot more currently sitting on 3-5 eggs each.

We plan to branch out to more expensive bird species, like African Love Birds and Finches, by middle of year also.

Bamboo-Coconut Project - Famy, Laguna...

2010-01-27T01:39:00.000-08:00

One long-term project we have started is the establishment of a bamboo-coconut farm in a 6-hectare property we own in Famy, Laguna.

The property is not accessible by road, and is about a 30-minute upward trek.

This was previously used to house my cattle, but as we have distributed most via the "pa-iwi"system, it is now free for other use.

Bamboo, now called "green gold", was selected as we expect a very big demand for bamboo poles especially as most of the coconut farms are being cut-down for lumber. Further, on a sustainability point of view, bamboo wins out over mahogany, as bamboo poles can be harvested without killing the plant.

The problem we are experiencing, though, is the availability of established planting materials. We have checked with MFI, and their bamboo nursery is still not that mature to service our needs.

Coconut was selected as an inter-crop to bamboo as it grows higher than most bamboo species but does no occupy too much canopy space. Further, like bamboo the sustainable nature of harvesting "buko" is important in the selection of this inter-crop.

Similar to the acquisition of good bamboo planting materials, good coconut planting materials are surprisingly quite difficult to get. One has to order from PCA Zamboanga to get these.

An alternative we are looking at is the planting of certified embryo-cultured macapuno coconut, but the price of the planting materials, P600 per seedling last time we checked, is very restrictive.

Commercial operations is expected to start from year 5 onwards. To jump-start this venture, we planted close to 1,200 saba bananas, which we expect to start harvesting from by the end of this year.

We have not studied the financials of this yet, and the income expected is not high, but the sustainable nature of the business makes this venture very appealing.

Cow Breeding Project - Famy, Laguna

2010-01-27T01:17:00.000-08:00

We've had cattle for quite some time now, in our farm in Famy, Laguna.

Currently we have 8 cows, 22 heifers, 2 bulls and 3 calves, and the goal is to continually build-up these assets until we have 100 breeder cows.

We started out with mix-breed cattle, majority of which were purchased from Padre Garcia, and in time, we hope to be able to purchase a pure-bred Brahman bull so we can upgrade our stock.

Most of our cattle have been distributed to farmers in the locale, under a modified "pa-iwi" system. I asked them to sign a contract of sorts so that at least they also feel more responsible with the investment I am sharing with them. This system hopefully will help them at least build some assets, and for our part, availing of this system allows our farm-hands to focus on other concerns.

Financials-wise, I remember doing a run on this and the Internal Rate of Return, based on a 8-year term, is about 4% per month. I'll need to check on this, though, as this exercise was done several years ago.

Tilapia Breeding Project - Pakil, Laguna Station

2010-01-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

This is a similar project as our Tilapia Breeding Station in Pila, Laguna, but this is located in Kabulusan, Pakil, Laguna.

The ponds we are going to use are not as nice as the ones in Pila, and we have to do a lot of work to develop this site - pond cleaning, installation of water pump, etc.

The main reason why we took the ponds was due to its proximity to our fish cage projects. Also, there is very big opportunity to sell to fellow fish cager owners as there is no producer of fingerlings in the area - we all buy our stock from somewhere else.

Again, breeding of red tilapia may be started on this as a way to significantly reduce the cost of inputs, primary of which is the cost of the fingerlings, which are now selling at P4 per size 22 fingerling.

Tilapia Breeding Project - Pila, Laguna Station

2010-01-26T01:15:00.000-08:00

This is a very interesting project, which we shall start by February 1.

The breeding ponds are in Pila, Laguna, very near the shorelines of Laguna de Bay, where a lot of fish cages are set-up.

The property is accessible using a 4x4 vehicle and there is a small hut where workers can stay. There is also a pump, which is already set-up and operational.

We leased 8 ponds and we are looking to expand and take in the neighboring ponds, business returns allowing. Each pond is about 10 m x 29 m and are very well made.

We shall be breeding the ordinary tilapia and the red tilapia, initially, as input to our fish cage projects, and eventually we intend to sell fries and fingerlings to those operating fish cages in the area.

Financials are amazing for this venture but we shall provide this after 2 cycles.

Risks, are of course related to environment and water quality.

Broiler Chicken Project

2010-01-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, we started a 300-head per week Broiler Chicken Grow-out Project in Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas.

We are on our 3rd batch, and improving on our survival rate. We shall be expanding this to 500 heads per week as soon as the market is established.

We have built business relations with a hatchery where we are able to get good quality day-old-chicks at a price much lower than the market rate. In fact, due to this advantage, we have also branched into selling day-old-chicks to distributors.

The expected rate of return for our Broiler Chicken Project is at 30% per cycle, with each cycle being 35-40 days, mainly as we are reducing our costs through the inclusion of self-mixed feeds.

2010 projects

2010-01-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

My brother and I have gone full swing into developing the following agriculture and aquaculture projects:

Livestock Ventures

Raising of Broiler Chicken
Swine Fattening
Cattle Fattening
Cattle Breeding
Goat Breeding

Rice, Corn, and Vegetable Ventures

Palay Production
Sweet Corn Production
Mushroom Production
Vegetable Production

Aquaculture Ventures

Tilapia Fingerling Production
Tilapia Grow-out in Fishcages
Pangasius Grow-out in Fishcages
African Catfish Grow-out in Fishcages

Other Ventures

Fightingcock Breeding
Parakeet Breeding
Breeding of Purebred Dogs
Fruit Production (Rambutan, Pommelo, Langka, Guapple, Lanzones, Coconut, etc.)
Feeds Mixing

We are also open to getting investments from interested parties, but as with ventures like these, the returns are really good but are not assured.

Project details, including financial projections shall be posted shortly.