Farmer Roderick initially ventured into mushroom production to generate extra income for his family. However, what began as a small project soon became his full-time calling. As demand grew, so did Roderick's desire to scale up the business.
In 2016, he found a reliable partner in Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK, a domestic bank) which stepped in with an initial loan of P300,000.00 (5130 USD) giving Roderick the boost he needed to expand his operations. Over the years, LANDBANK has extended a total of P6.25 million to support Roderick's mushroom production, which covered the purchase of equipment and the construction of mushroom housing, and even the expansion to tilapia and catfish production.
The Mushroom Man currently delivers fresh produce daily to market outlets in Nueva Vizcaya and Manila, as well as in the provinces of Isabela, Tarlac, Pampanga, Cavite and Cagayan Valley. One of his sustainable farm methods involve recycling mushroom spent, a byproduct of his mushroom production, to cultivate duckweeds as an alternative to artificial commercial fish feeds.
This recycling practice 'reduced the cost of his tilapia production by half and significantly increased his profits'.
Read the entre story at GMA News Online