Philippine rice farmers fed up, sell up

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

IMUS, Philippines (AFP) — Mario Sabater, 48, heads one of the last remaining farming families in this town just south of Manila, where a white-hot property market is fast gobbling up the rice paddies.

With his only son in high school and showing no interest in getting his feet muddy, Sabater, a fourth generation rice farmer, is considering selling his plot to developers.

"I will sell soon," he told AFP as he paused from his back-breaking work to gaze out over his three-hectare (7.4-acre) lot.

"Farming is such a tough and laborious job. In three months I will harvest, but it's only enough for us, while a few remaining sacks will be sold.

"I'm among the last hold-outs here. In 10 years' time you won't find any farms around here."

Many of his...