Louise Maureen Simeon

12/22/2020

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture will start establishing greenhouse villages in Metro Manila to help ensure a sustainable food supply in the country.

The Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) recently partnered with four barangays in Caloocan and Quezon for the creation of greenhouse villages as part of the urban agriculture program of the government.

Urban agriculture is one of the flagship programs of the Plant Plant Plant initiative of the DA to boost supply amid the pandemic.

Barangays 179 and 180 in Caloocan and barangays Payatas and Tandang Sora in Quezon City will serve as pilot areas for the project.

Under the partnership, ATI will provide funding assistance for the establishment of a greenhouse village per barangay.

This will feature one unit of high greenhouse with an administration office and storage area, one unit of seedling nursery with micro-sprinkler irrigation, and one unit of production area with drip kit irrigation system.

The agreement also calls for 10 sessions of training program from the construction phase until harvest time.

Through this, the DA and ATI aim to showcase doable technologies of protective farming systems.

The partnership also targets to increase the production of vegetables and to make these available in the barangay level throughout the year amid varying weather conditions.

DA’s urban agriculture program has been gaining positive feedback from more institutions as it continues to help stabilize food supply, foster social integration, and protect the environment through eco-friendly methods and innovative gardening methods.

It was launched in April as an immediate response to the food supply disruption due to the pandemic.