Philippines: Money from microgreens: Young urban farmer finds success in growing microgreens

“We recently shifted our main target market to chefs, restaurants, and cafes, to businesses,” Nicomedes said.

By James Tababa
Manilla Bulletin
May 29, 2023

Excerpt:

Drawing inspiration from his mother’s religious beliefs, Nicomedes named his startup “Manna Farm,” with “Manna” meaning “blessing from heaven.” The journey of Mana Farm began in 2021 when Paolo, seeking a way to earn money from his agricultural knowledge, started exploring agribusiness opportunities. After experimenting with arugula using a hydroponics system, Paolo discovered that microgreens held a lot of promise. With a single tray in his room, he began his microgreens venture, gradually expanding to 12 trays.

Paolo’s breakthrough came when the Department of Agriculture announced the Young Farmers Challenge, offering grants to young farmers with innovative agricultural ideas. Luckily, Nicomedes and his business idea was one of the chosen winners in the NCR. “It was a blessing that I got selected because that grant became the seed money for Mana Farm,” he said. With the grant of P50,000, Paolo used it to build a greenhouse with seven racks for growing more microgreens.

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