A personal initiative to restore a rice terraces

Hello Every one!

My name is Johnson. I live in Banaue, Ifugao and I used to work as a tour guide. People here have some traditional rice farms along the mountains that creates a beautiful rice terraces and many people around the world visit this area to see these breathtaking views of these century old rice terraces .

Today many farmers have difficulty in maintaining their rice farms due to expensive maintenance and low yields, because of this many rice farmers, just stopped farming their rice fields, some converted their rice fields into other cash crop gardens, some did not work on their rice fields so nature took it back like grasses, shrubs and trees had over grown it and the rice fields deteriorates. Some farmers converted it into residential areas.  

I started an agri-tourism farm project that models a sustainable agri-tourism rice terraces proposedly to give an idea for the rice farmers in my area to maximize the farm uses and get more income so that they can be encourage to maintain their rice farm instead of converting the rice farms into other purposes such as cash crop garden, residential areas, or abandoning it.

Due to the pandemic I lost my job in tourism services so I stopped the farm project for almost 2 years now. I wanted to go on with the project so I started this fund raising. The money that will be raised will be used for farm labors, I need some equipment like dryer, sealers, packing materials for the traditional tinawon rice (a genuine variety of rice grown in the Banaue rice terraces for many centuries, known for its Vitamin B, aromatic rice.),  tea and other harvested farm products. 

I need to start a small marketing strategy for this traditional tinawon rice grown from the Banaue rice terraces and other farm produce that are intercropped with the tinawon rice. 

This small personal effort may help the farmers to maintain their rice fields and can contribute in saving of the Banaue rice terraces from conversion to other purposes.  I highly appreciate your contribution and when you happen to visit Banaue one day to see these breath taking rice terraces get in touch with us in our FB Page: Rushmore Hill Heirloom Farm and Agri-tourism Services  we are happy to show you around.

Thank you very much.

Best Regards,

Johnson