Carmel Farm is an integrated and diversified organic farm owned by Carmel Agri-Learning Farm, Inc. The 2.8-hectare farm also operates as a farming school. Located in Barangay Binanuaanan, Pili, Camarines Sur, it is blest with a scenic view of Mt. Isarog on its northeastern side. The chosen name “Carmel Farm” brings to mind the biblical Mount Carmel, a fertile land of beauty and bounty that connotes holiness and bravery.
Carmel Farm is a dream come true for owners, Santi and Mely Cervantes, who are advocates and practitioners of organic agriculture. It has utilized organic farming methods and practices for 18 years now. Being a member of the Pecuaria Development Cooperative, Inc., Carmel Farm gained certification as an organic rice farm by virtue of a group certification issued by the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines in 2008. It is registered as a business entity with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Pili Municipal Government.
The farm propagates crops and ruminants, with colored rice, fruits, and high-value vegetables as its main produce. It has an orchard of bignay and pili trees, garden plots planted to vegetables and ornamentals, an aquaculture pond, and a lot planted to feed crops for chicken, goats, swine, and cows.
Carmel Farm has been accredited by the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI) as a school for practical agriculture and by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) as a field school for Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund programs and Organic Agriculture NC2. It serves as a demonstration farm showcasing organic-based livelihoods, such as the production of rice, vegetables, and organic fertilizer. It also serves as a research facility and a laboratory and practicum farm for students and trainees. Because of its easy accessibility and the varied services it offers, the farm has become a popular study and exposure destination for organic farming advocates, farmers, trainees, tourists, and other groups and individuals interested in sustainable agriculture, in general, and in integrated, diversified and organic farming systems, in particular.
As a learning facility, the farm has trained more than 2,000 individuals on various courses. Its training partners include TESDA, BFAR, DA-ATI, PDCI, LGUs, DAR, CBSUA, and NGOs, such as ADRA, BFDC, TRIAS NGO, Kolping Society, EDUCO/INTERVIDA, PAKISAMA, and AKBAYAN. The faculty is composed of the farm owners, guest lecturers from CBSUA, Pili Municipal Government, and the Department of Agriculture, and a pool of farmer-trainers from the region.
Carmel Farm is a living testimony that organic farming can be a profitable and fulfilling undertaking.
About Santi and Mely Cervantes, owners of Carmel Farm:
Santi (Santiago) graduated from Bicol University with a master’s degree in Management. He currently holds positions as Private Sector Representative in the Regional Development Council and on the Board of Regents of Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA). He is also involved in the Municipal Peoples Council, Mt. Isarog Protected Area Management Board, and the Provincial Agrarian Reform Committee.
Mely (Carmelita) graduated from University of the Philippines in Los Baños with a PhD in Agronomy and is a retired professor of CBSUA. Now she is a TESDA trainer in Organic Agriculture Production NC2 and handles various trainings for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Funds program.