Investing in Farmon.ph

My good friend introduced me to the company last December. It was supposed to be a real life Farmville game with people investing real money in real agricultural crops and animals. The company had been promoting itself for some time now, with a couple of news articles in the Inquirer and even Facebook.

For those who are curious, Farmon.ph is a virtual application that introduces Filipinos to farming and help bridge the gap between investors (those with money) and famers (those with the skills to produce farm corps and raise livestock.)  Here is a video of an interview with the company representative explaining the idea of virtual farming and how it can help farmers in the province.



I thought this was an interesting kind of investment, with a lot of potential for growth and learning. Investors get to choose the kind of vegetable or livestock they want to grow, like eggplant, tomatoes, or chickens. Each plant or animal has a corresponding investment price. Once they placed their investments, Farmon.ph works with the farmers by providing them with the needed seeds/fertilizers to grow the vegetables. Investors can monitor their crops or animals online. When the plants are ready for harvesting, investors have the option of selling the crops to Farmon.ph or pick up the vegetables themselves.

After doing some research, I decided to become a farmon.ph investor. I contacted the company,  selected the crops I wanted to invest on, signed the contract, and gave them the money. The entire process can actually be done virtually (except for the payment which you have to go to the bank and deposit the money to their bank account). Skeptical investors (like me) can visit their Manila office and make the payment in person. I did pay a visit to their office in Mandaluyong, just to make sure they are a legit company. It was there that I learned that the company was closing its Manila office and moving its entire operation to the province. I guess it was a perfectly good reason since investors rarely come to their office (I was the first in months) and they needed to transfer to a new location that was closer to the actual farm.

A few weeks later, they activated my account in Facebook and I could now "access" my crops. It is a very simple interface with a lot of sections that are still under development. I tried emailing their customer support, asking questions about their interface, but they haven't responded. I did get an email from them a few days ago, informing me that they took a fifteen second video of my crops.

I think the Facebook app will continue to change and improve, but honestly I was expecting a lot more. I got a faster response when I emailed their contact persons for questions, rather than posting my questions using the Facebook app.

I am still excited about my Farmon.ph investment. It might take a few more months before harvest time, but I am looking forward to investing in other crops on the next farming cycle.