The Mahistrados (Grace, daughter Amor and Benjohn) in the recently concluded 2019 Productivity Olympics Awarding Ceremony held at the Sheraton Hotel in Manila.
Pasay City, Manila---Another Learning Site (LS) partner of the center recently won a distinguished achievement and service award underscoring its contribution to the growth of agribusiness in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country today.
Alomah’s Nature Farm in Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon was declared as the Regional Winner in the 2019 Productivity Olympics and later was also in the running to be one of the 33 National Finalists for the Agribusiness (Small Category) out of the 139 regional winners of the different categories for the Agribusiness, Industry and Service under MSMEs.
Alomah’s Nature Farm owner and farm operator Benjohn Mahistrado with wife Grace and daughter Amor graced the awarding ceremony which transpired on October 4, 2019 with PAD Chief Renato B. Dela Cruz at the Sheraton Hotel in Manila. As a regional winner, the Mahistrado's presented their implemented Productivity Improvement Programs.
Alomah’s Nature Farm is a two-hectare farm in Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. The name, according to Benjohn, is an acronym for “A Love of Mountain and Horses” or the much clever “A Look of Man’s Agricultural Haven”. Word play aside, Alomah is actually a combination of the couple’s surnames (Grace) Alombro and (Benjohn) Mahistrado. Both had farmer-parents who were their major influences when it comes to farming.
According to Grace, the evolution of Alomah came out from the demands and opportunities presented by patrons in their walk-in basis. Alomah started out as a passion farm in 2010 and the idea of earning big was far from the couples’ mind. Alomah commercially opened in 2014 to the public after it was developed gradually and upon the influence of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).
With the farm’s growing popularity and influence, the couple took heart their social responsibility as communal farmers by reaching out to nearby communities by generating employment. They even encouraged other farmers to engage in backyard gardening. They put effort in educating the consumers and wholesale buyers about their produce and the organic way of farming.
The Productivity Olympics is a biennial competition of the best productivity improvement programs of MSMEs organized by the National Wages and Productivity Commission of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-NWPC) in coordination with all its Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs).