Success in a tilapia pond

STARTING with P400,000 capital sourced from personal savings, and loans from friends and relatives, the assets of the mother-and-son team of Agnes and Rene Tayag multiplied by five-hundredfold or more in a span of 14 years. They accomplished this feat even as they introduced new varieties of tilapia, supplied the growing demand for the fish in Central Luzon, and more importantly, created jobs in the areas where they operated their fishponds. Before taking the big splash into tilapia culture, Agnes' entrepreneurial skills were already evident in a business she operated in Angeles City, Pampanga. This involved leasing out her three houses to American servicemen and expatriates. The business thrived until the socio-political sentiments against the US military installations at Clark and Subic intensified.

While many businessmen in the area lost sleep over the effects of the inevitable removal of the US military bases, Agnes Tayag restlessly pondered her next business move. Instead of waiting for luck or opportunity to come her way, Agnes sought it herself at the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), where she enrolled in a seminar on tilapia culture conducted by Emil Ballesteros of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

An exposure trip to the Meralco Foundation in Jalajala, Rizal capped the training. There, Agnes saw fishponds -- -- rows and rows of these -- -- for the first time in her life. Since then, she was hooked to tilapia farming.

Says Agnes: "Tilapia grows fast and breeds easily. The water and environmental conditions in the country are ideal for its culture. And the profit potential is very encouraging, considering the high demand for its delicious white meat."

With a big idea, optimism and the will to succeed, Agnes sought assistance from Ballesteros and other technical experts at BFAR and the Meralco Foundation.

Through all these, Rene -- then a teener -- stood by his mother and impressed the consultants with his eagerness, resolve and self-confidence.

When the government announced its rejection of the renewal of the US military bases agreement in June 1990, the first two hectares of the Tayag fish farm at the foot of Mt. Arayat in Pampanga became operational.

The first cropping season yielded between one to two metric tons of grow-out (matured) tilapia. Two viajeros bought all of the farm's produce and brought the supply to Angeles, San Fernando, Cabanatuan and other municipalities in Nueva Ecija.

Spared from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in June 1991 that took massive lives and properties in nearby towns, the Tayag's had to double their production to cater to the markets in Central Luzon previously served by the fish farms now buried in lahar. However, the additional five hectares that yielded some 167,000 pieces of 200-gram grow-out tilapia every cropping season was not enough.

The increasing demand called for the installation of three hatcheries that would allow them to increase production, breed their own supply of fingerlings and, in turn, minimize operating costs. The only way Agnes can raise funds for this expansion was to put up her three properties in Angeles City as collateral for a bank loan. Unfortunately, no banks, even the ones in Metro Manila, were willing to accept collateral properties in the lahar-affected region.

Unfazed, as usual, Agnes approached TLRC. The government agency looked beyond the collateral, for what they saw was Agnes Tayag's able management and good foresight, above other considerations.

TLRC granted Agnes Tayag a P2-million loan in 1992, payable in three years. With this infusion, the Tayag's started their hatchery operations. The three new hatcheries supplied the fish farm its own fingerlings and netted in additional revenues from selling the excess supply to smaller fish farmers.

At about the same time, Rene started formulating his own feeds for the fingerlings to ensure the quality of the composition and further minimize operating costs. To increase production output, he bought 10,000 fingerlings of the BAR's Genetically Improved Farm Tilapia (GIFT), which matures at a rate 20% faster than the normal, and the sex-reversed varieties.

Profit margin reached 110%. The Tayags acquired another hectare for planting 1000 calamansi and 200 carabao mango trees. Eventually, Agnes fully entrusted the reins on operations and marketing to Rene,then 23 and with an insatiable thirst for challenges.

Rene discloses that ambition, hard work and conscientious management are their secrets for success.

"We just wanted to make something for ourselves," he says, adding that "I owe it to my mother who has imbued in us, her children, the values of hard work, honesty and concern for others."

Rene now personally manages the work of his 12 men --all older than he is -- 12 hours a day, five days a week.

When Rene finished his MBA studies at the Angeles University in 1998, the Tayag fish farm had a total area of 19 hectares and has started to market its feeds commercially. In ten years, Rene sees himself as exporting tilapia fish fillets.

This is the same Rene who, his mother reveals, used to go to school with just P1 in his pocket. "Gusto kong kumain ng mas masarap, pero hindi kasya ang baon ko noon," he said.

"It is an ineffable feeling to see the business prospering and our efforts paying off," says Rene in his deep, authoritative voice and with a smile that exuded the joy that can only come after hard work, determination and dedication. *

Rochelle has been working in the field of publicity, advertising and corporate publications for ten years now. When office work is light, she finds time to research about business opportunities that abound in the Philippines. You may email the author at trade@philippinestoday.net.