Joel S. Callano: A Marine Engineer Turns an Animal Raiser

Joel S. Callano of Tagbina, Surigao del Sur harvesting eggs from his poultry farm.
He said that hands-on management is the key to success for any ventures.

After sailing in vast ocean for almost 12 years, Joel Callano of Sitio Matin-aw, Poblacion, Tagbina, Surigao del Sur finally decided to follow his dreams to run a business and eventually led him into animal raising.

Joel,  54 years old and a father of two, has to wake up around four o’clock in the morning to check his 4.1 hectares farm land adopting Integrated Farming System.

Within his area, he ventured various projects such as hog raising, goat production, and poultry production. He also planted various fruit bearing trees such as durian, calamansi, and coconut intercropped with rubber.

Joel is also a lover of flowers. He has a small portion of his land devoted to orchids and anthurium which he sells to interested buyers.

Animal wastes were utilized through vermi composting and applied as fertilizer for his vegetation as a way promoting organic agriculture in his locality. 

Despite the heavy workload in his farm, Joel did not feel heavily laden as his loving wife Sonia supported him by taking in-charge of the marketing side of their farm operation. He is supported also with his 3 farm workers.

Joel said that at the start he don’t have adequate knowledge in raising small animals. This was the reason why he keep asking from his friends and also attended various trainings conducted by some private companies and the Department of Agriculture thru the Agricultural Training Institute and the Provincial and Municipal Agriculture Office.

Aside from the trainings and ideas from his peers, he personally conducted self-study or trial by error to verify various approaches and techniques suitable in his area.

To cut down expenses in commercial feeds, he established his own feed mill with the help of the technical expertise of DA-ATI.

As of now, meat and egg entrepreneurs in Tagbina and neighboring towns placed their orders from him. For faster service for clients, he utilizes his private car and a tricycle as a delivery vehicle.

Having established a good rapport with his costumers, Joel consistently posted an average Return of Investment (ROI) of 135% in 2012 while in last year 2013 his ROI was 179% across all of his agricultural ventures.

Known to have implemented the best practices in animal raising his farm is being tapped by the nearby Surigao del Sur State University (SSDSU) for their student’s internship program.

With the strategic location of his farm along the main highway, he envisioned to establish his own cake shop serving cakes and pastries, leche flan and other native delicacies with buko and calamansi juice as natural thirst quenchers, dream that is not far from reality as he is armed with dedication and a supportive family. (Aurell P. Arais/RAFIS DA Caraga)

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