MANILA, Philippines?Was there a time in your life when you wanted to have your own farm? You may have pictured yourself growing and picking your own vegetables and fruits or fishing from your own tilapia pond, all the while breathing fresh, clean air. I?m pretty sure that a lot of us have dreamed about it, especially now that healthy, natural living has become the ?in? thing.

An increasingly popular type of real estate development today is known as farm lot development. These are properties subdivided into parcels no smaller than 500 square meters. Only a portion of this, no more than 25 percent of the total area, is buildable, while the remaining portion is earmarked for planting or for ponds.

The Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) imposes less stringent requirements for developers of this kind of real estate projects, compared to normal residential subdivision developments. For example, roads need not be paved nor be as wide as in regular subdivisions. In addition, the roads need not have sidewalks. There is no need to allocate areas for common parks and open spaces. As a result, development costs are lower and, therefore, the projects become more affordable.

Market potential

What is even more interesting is the market potential this new concept brings. In this kind of farm lot development, even the city-bred buyers are encouraged because they know they can look to the developers to provide them the technical know-how in farming and even the manpower to manage their property, giving them the chance of a more profitable yield.

I met a farmer named Mang Nards, who is by no means an ordinary farmer. Leonardo M. Balanggao, his real name, is currently the implementing consultant of the DENR-World Bank for the development of some of their eco tourism projects and watershed development. He is also involved in livelihood projects related to farming, such as the growing of okra, bananas, onions and other vegetables.

Mang Nards is an advocate of ?Smart Farming.? He dreams of helping his countrymen become self-sufficient and have better lives through novel, functional approaches to farming. He aims to show them that smart farming, even on a small tract of land of 1,000 sq m, is enough to support a medium-size family comfortably, as long as it is well-managed.

Affordable farm lot

Being an idealist, he dreams of coming up with an affordable farm lot real estate development wherein the proponent will be the one to manage the farms and offer technical support to the homeowner. This way, the homeowner can have a property that will sustain itself and produce income, while providing him a healthy, wholesome living environment. He claims that the setup is ideal for overseas contract workers. Instead of merely sending money to their relatives, they can give them a means of livelihood and a proper abode, all in one package.

We can only hope that more developers look to the countryside, not as just another vast tract of land to pave and subdivide for the growing urban community. There must be more of them who will adopt the idea of improving countryside living for the rural community. They need to address the need of simple people in the provinces who want, not just a safe and healthy home, but also a productive farm.

For your comments, please email to marcosdeguzman@yahoo.com.