FRANCINE ALYXIA PALMES/CMU Intern
THE CITY Agriculturist Office (CAgrO) has been going around communities to help families maximize the small spaces while growing their own food through urban gardening.
During the iSpeak forum on Thursday, June 18, Jeana M. Ablen, OIC CAgrO municipal agricultural officer of Poblacion, Talomo, and Agdao districts, said urban gardening is an approach to grow and tend to healthy vegetables without chemical inputs.
She said they also promote urban gardening to commercial establishments and workplaces, especially with the recent rise in food prices.
For instance, families can plant vegetables in backyards and small spaces using recyclable and biodegradable materials and utilize kitchen waste as fertilizer to keep costs down. To maximize space, they can adopt vertical or container gardening.
She said they work with barangays to organize a training on urban agriculture and edible landscaping, particularly among women and senior citizens.
To illustrate, some women in Catalunan Grande have already established a communal garden and a household garden with technical assistance from CAgrO.
Ablen added that they provided technical assistance to establish gardens at the Davao City Jail in Ma-a and the Bureau of Fire Protection in Bucana and Matina Crossing.
She said CAgrO offers free seedlings sourced from its community nursery in Marfori.
The official said one of the challenges in getting people to buy in is the mindset that urban gardening is difficult. “Senior citizens and the youth can participate in maintaining the urban gardening in urban areas to help households minimize the cost of buying vegetables and avoid the risk of chemical-contaminated vegetables,” she stated.
