A total of 345 families from 19 communities from the National Capital Region (NCR) benefitted from Gulayan sa Pamayanan, an urban gardening project that is led and organized by two Department of Science and Technology (DOST) agencies, the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) and DOST-NCR.
The project distributed urban gardening materials and trained residents in Metro Manila on two technologies—Enriched Potting Preparation (EPP) and Simple Nutrient Addition Program (SNAP) Hydroponics.
This was announced during the Gulayan sa Pamayanan online news conference themed, “Urban Gardening: Sharing of Experiences and Impacts from the Beneficiaries,” on August 25 that was streamed on DOST-PCAARRD’s Facebook page.
Dr. Eduardo P. Paningbatan Jr., retired professor from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, developed the EPP, while Dr. Primitivo Jose A. Santos and Dr. Eureka Teresa M. Ocampo of UPLB-Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) developed SNAP Hydroponics.
EPP is a technology that requires recyclable soft drink bottles as plant pots, a potting medium, coco coir and the compost soil extract (CSE), which is formulated by Paningbatan.
CSE provides nutrients to herbs, vegetables and ornamental plants that are planted using EPP.
SNAP Hydroponics uses recycled Styrofoam boxes, styro cups, growing media composed of coco peat, carbonized rice hull, saw dust, and fine sand, plus the SNAP A and B nutrient solutions, which similar to CSE, provide nutrients to the plants.
According to DOST-PCAARRD Executive Director Reynaldo V. Ebora, the project beneficiaries were selected based on the Community Empowerment through Science and Technology program of the DOST, which hopes to provide livelihood and alleviate poverty in remote communities.
“The Gulayan sa Pamayanan project was initially identified to assist seven communities. However, this number ballooned to 19 communities, which is still aligned with our goal to increase vegetable availability in Metropolitan areas,” Ebora said.
The 19 communities are Muntaparlas (Brgy. CAA, Las Piñas; Brgy. BF Homes, Phase 3, Parañaque City; Don Bosco, Parañaque City; Doña Rosario Heights and Paradise Garden group of Sucat, Muntinlupa City; and GAD, MCTI, Putatan, Muntinlupa City), Pamamazon (Brgy. 412, Sampaloc, Manila; Claro M. Recto High School; Brgy. 412, Sampaloc, Manila; and Brgy. Pildera, Pasay City), Pamamarisan (Brgy. Nangka, Brgy. Concepcion, THAI, Brgy. Concepcion Uno, Fortune, and CEMO of Marikina City), and Camanava (Brgy. Pasolo, Brgy. Balangkas, Brgy. Tanza 1, and Brgy. Tanza 2, Navotas City.
Food security in the community
A total of 3,950 EPP kits and 2,350 SNAP kits were distributed to the communities.
Moreover, 180 bags of compost, 55 pieces of tower/vertical garden with EPP vessels, eight coco coir net greenhouse, 1,000 liters of CSE, 100 sets of SNAP A and B Solutions, and 10 packs of plastic lining were distributed to 345 families.
To increase the success of the project, the beneficiaries were trained on the EPP and SNAP Hydroponics technologies, including seedling propagation and preparation. A total of 250 beneficiaries were trained.
The beneficiaries shared the benefits they gained from the Gulayan sa Pamayanan project.
Brgy. 412 Chairman Filomena G. Cinco, also the leader of “Nagkakaisang Mamamayan ng Legarda,” shared that they were interested in livelihood projects because their constituents were displaced and lost their livelihood during the pandemic.
“Residents of Barangay 412 no longer go out of the community because the source of their livelihood are already here. Most importantly, Gulayan sa Pamayanan was a big help because we could eat many food and could still share to others. Our residents became healthier and their resistance is stronger. We give away and donate our extra harvest,” Cinco said in Fiipino.
Meanwhile, Anita Pascual, president of Win Mother Community Group in Brgy. Balangkas, Valenzuela City, shared that through the Gulayan sa Pamayanan project, they were able to organize several communities composed of women, solo parents, youth and men who had assigned garden plots.
Their group was able to secure a compost bioreactor from DOST that helped them to hasten compost-making.
Prior to using the bioreactor, Pascual said that compost-making was labor-intensive and can only produce a limited number of sacks of compost.
With the bioreactor, she said that compost production increased tenfold. Pascual added that she is grateful for the assistance and the knowledge they gained from the project.
Arlyn Godinez, community leader of Paradise Garden in Brgy. Sucat, Muntinlupa City, shared that their 43 members who are all beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) were able to obtain materials as well as knowledge in gardening.
“When you plant, you can bring home vegetables for your family. The vegetables are safe because they are not sprayed with pesticide. We can sell vegetables at the City Hall which increased our income. We earn P5,000 per cycle of SNAP Hydroponics,” Godinez said in Filipino.
According to Chairman Raffy Sevilla of Barangay Sucat, the project provided the community an alternative food source, especially during pandemic.
He said that through the facilitation of DOST, they were able to secure seedlings of different vegetables, which they distributed to the community.
“We benefitted so much from the DOST, not only from the equipment, but most specially from the transfer of technology— from ideas,” he said.
Arlu Cabañero, a teacher at Pasolo Elementary School, said that farming was not new to him because his parents were both farmers. As the focal person, he wanted to create awareness among his Grade 6 pupils regarding agriculture and food production.
He was also able to gain knowledge on the different methods and techniques of urban gardening, which he also shared with his community during this time of pandemic.
“I am thankful to DOST-NCR and DOST-PCAARRD in trusting us because not all are given this kind of opportunity,” he said.
Rose Anne M. Aya/S&T Media Services