THE Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to the “plantitos/plantitas”—plant hobbyists, home gardeners and indoor farmers—who have found a more productive way to spend their quarantined lives.
And as the coronavirus continues to threaten communities with the highly transmissible and deadlier Delta variant, the trend will likely continue as both a pastime and a food source for plant lovers and nurturers in the Philippines.
A way to fight hunger
MER Layson, a journalist and urban farming practitioner, has been teaching how to raise vegetables using plastic bottles via Facebook and YouTube.
In a telephone interview on July 19, Layson, also known as “Magsasakang [Farmer] Reporter,” said urban farming has become a way to fight hunger and poverty.
“I taught urban farming face-to-face at my house in Paco, Manila, but it stopped during the pandemic,” Layson said.
“Fortunately, my son taught me how to use YouTube so I started teaching again,” he said in Filipino.
Layson said that many people are interested in learning how to grow their own food when access to food became momentarily difficult at the height of the pandemic.
“Even government employees are becoming interested in learning how to plant and grow their own food,” he said.
Layson started appearing in a television program and writing a column on urban farming for a local tabloid.
“I believe God has made me an instrument to help others become urban farmers. It has become my advocacy. While I continue to work as a reporter, I still consider myself a farmer and I want to teach others how to farm,” he said.
Expanding green spaces
IN a statement last month, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu called on Metro Manila residents to adopt vertical gardening techniques to maximize their limited space, help create more green spaces in the urban jungles and preserve urban biodiversity.
“We can derive so much benefits from these green spaces, which include green walls, green roofs, vertical gardens, urban forest parks, the linear forest along walkways, transport routes and river systems,” he said.
According to Cimatu, these networks of green spaces will improve air quality, reduce heat, increase energy efficiency, reduce noise pollution and provide habitats for wildlife.
Urban biodiversity program
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) has been promoting the Urban Biodiversity Program among the local government units—which includes urban forest bathing and green infrastructures—to increase green spaces and enhance biodiversity in urban areas.
Urban forest bathing promotes the health benefits of forests and green spaces, while green infrastructures are buildings or infrastructures that support green energy and provide environmental benefits.
Urban biodiversity makes nature closer to urban dwellers, DENR Undersecretary Benny D. Antiporda said.
“We can only do so much based on our existing laws in preserving the green spaces in Metro Manila, but even an ordinary citizen can help in this endeavor,” Antiporda said.
He said the rise of plantitos and plantitas have helped reverse the impact of rapid infrastructure development in Metro Manila.
While this trend is helpful, Antiporda noted that the demand for ornamental plants also “invited the unwanted proliferation of plant poachers.”
He appealed to plant hobbyists not to patronize illegally traded plants, especially non-native plants, because of their possible adverse impacts to the environment.
This may result, he said, in “bringing pests and diseases that may infect other species of plants.”
Greening the city
PASAY City has seen an opportunity in greening the city with the gradual opening of the economy as 60 of its barangay chairmen recently completed a short course on urban farming.
The local leaders attended the “Pasay City Urban Farm Tourism” at the International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST) in Barangay Biga II, Silang, Cavite, with the aim of cleaning and greening Pasay City through various urban farming techniques.
Initiated by Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano, together with the Pasay City Tourism and Cultural Development Office and the ISST, the trainer’s training program held from July 7 to 9 was sponsored by the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) in cooperation with the local government of Silang, Cavite.
Among the urban farming techniques taught during the training are vertical gardening, hydroponics and plastic container gardening.
New ‘sexy’
ISST chairman and president Dr. Mina Gabor said that with urban farm tourism agriculture is becoming “sexy” for the youth.
“Our farmers are ageing and the youth are not very interested in farming. Our school wants to change this, and right now we have started to generate awareness and the youth are becoming attracted to urban farming,” Gabor said.
Gabor, a former Tourism secretary, said urban farming is also an effective fighting tool in fighting hunger and poverty.
“Even in the pandemic, we experienced limited access to food. That is because all our food comes from outside Metro Manila. With urban farming, we can help every barangay to produce food,” she said.
Urban farm tourism
THE concept of urban farm tourism also aims to seize tourism opportunities by showcasing successful greening projects at the barangay level. Pasay City has a total of 201 barangays divided into 20 different zones.
The city has realized that among the benefits of urban farm tourism is creating green jobs and livelihood opportunities by maximizing the use of limited space.
Bringing the farm to the city is also encouraging the youth to venture into urban farming and empower them to be more engaged in agriculture for environmental sustainability and food security.
Beneficial endeavor
“FIRST and foremost, planting is beneficial to our health. Second, it boosts food security,” Teresita C. Robles, founder of “Aasenso sa Green and Clean,” said in an interview with the BusinessMirror on July 9.
Robles, who also heads the Pasay City Heritage and Cultural Commission, said urban farming was initiated by Mayor Rubiano, her younger sister, when she organized “I Care for Mother Earth.”
“We as citizens have the duty and responsibility to take care of our environment and Mother Earth,” Robles said.
The way to go
GEORGE Tiopes, head of Pasay City Tourism Department, said urban farming is the way to go for Pasay City.
“Even with the concrete surroundings, it is not impossible to grow vegetables. We can do it vertically, by hydroponics or even grow vegetable in plastic containers,” he said.
Tiopes said he plans to encourage barangay officials to develop a space that can be part of a tourism package to be offered by the city’s tourism department.
Spicing up urban farming
PHILEXPORT President and CEO Sergio Ortiz-Luis, who is also a convener and co-founder of Sulong Pasay, said that while urban farming is not an entirely new concept, integrating it with tourism somehow spices up the endeavor.
Pasay City-based Philexport supports urban farming as it maximizes the opportunity for food production within a very limited space.
“Pasay City is an asphalt jungle so the best way is to promote urban farming in every community. What’s more, the program is integrated with the opportunity of tourism,” he said.