A government-sponsored project has trained more than 1,000 families in 29 communities in Metro Manila on urban gardening skills.
The trainings included tutorials on enriched potting preparation (EPP), simple nutrient addition program (SNAP hydroponics), and mushroom culture.
The project was spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).
It called for improving food security in selected areas in the National Capital Region in response to the COVID-19 crisis through urban agriculture.” It was implemented by a team headed by DOST National Capital Region Director Jose B. Patalinjug III and by Senior Science Research Specialist Elvin B. Almazar.
Patalinjug said the beneficiaries underwent 29 trainings and 14 webinars on urban gardening technologies.
He said they were taught to establish communal gardens, and repurpose plastic bottles and containers into “super paso”, which can be used to plant herbs and spices in backyards and community spaces.
Patalinjug said trained beneficiaries shared their EPP and SNAP kits with Claro M. Recto High School officials.
He added the project complemented the Department of Education’s Gulayan sa Tahanan Program, which aims to develop affordable and nutritious recipes from students’ produce in communal gardens and greenhouses.
Aside from communities and schools, non-government organizations, police districts and city jails were also taught of the technologies to establish their own vegetable communal gardens.