The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) recently launched its urban farming program dubbed “Buhay sa Gulay” in Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija.
The Buhay Gulay Demo Farm was put up in Barangay San Francisco to promote the importance of urban farming and help contribute to the province’s food security, DAR said.
The vegetable farming project is an initiative of DAR Secretary John Castriciones designed as a self-help start-up livelihood project where concerned government agencies and organizations will converge, share resources, and offer an opportunity to enable urban farmers to produce various vegetables that could also serve as additional source of income.
DAR Nueva Ecija Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer Eden Ponio said the first urban farming project of the province is in collaboration with the Eastern Santo Domingo Agriculture Cooperative (ESDAC) and a 6,000-square-meter lot is allotted for vegetable production.
“During this time of pandemic, it is imperative that we have food resources that we can depend on. Through the Buhay sa Gulay project, we could have a regular supply of vegetables in the community, as well as inspire our urban dwellers to cultivate their own yards and plant vegetables for their own consumption, where they could also save money to spend for food,” Ponio said.
The urban farming project was launched in November last year in Tondo, Manila. It was replicated by the cities of Quezon and Caloocan in the National Capital Region. Seeing the success of Buhay sa Gulay project, other urban areas nationwide followed suit, including provinces of Palawan, Tacloban, Oriental Mindoro, Davao, Cebu, among others.
Sto. Domingo Mayor Imee de Guzman lauded the department for always being on the side of small farmers and helping them flourish despite the challenges brought by Covid-19.
“And with this project, the DAR is helping our town to have a sufficient supply of food resources,” de Guzman said.