Metro Cebu folk urged to do backyard planting

CEBU, Philippines - To address the insufficient supply of high-value crops in Central Visayas, the Department of Agriculture urged Metro Cebu residents to do urban gardening and plant vegetables in their backyard.

Jorge Paculba, chief of the crops division of the Department of Agriculture (DA) 7, said the region is only about 56 percent sufficient in vegetables or high-value crops and that most of its supply is imported from other regions.

“A rising population sparking greater demand for vegetables and the existing 89 hotels plus pension houses and 116 restaurants in Cebu make it hard to achieve self-sufficiency in high-value crops,” Paculba said.

Last year, the production especially on eggplants, broccoli and onions went down.

Paculba said in order to increase the supply of vegetables, urban gardening is needed, citing Cebu which only has three percent of its lands categorized as agricultural.

“Cebu’s population is always on the rise while only three percent of its total lands are classified as agricultural lands. Thus, the province depends largely on imports for its veggie needs,” he said.

 Under the Agricultural Roadmap in Response to Increasing Demand and Climate Change 2011-2016, the DA-7 aims to increase the vegetable sufficiency level of the region from 56.26 percent in 2011 to 66.32 percent in 2016 by providing production, post-harvest, and processing equipment and facilities.

 The DA-7 is also partnering with the DepEd in the National Greening Program in which vegetable seedlings are given to schools to be planted by students in their school gardens.

 Paculba advised farmers to utilize even sloping lands for vegetable planting known as contour farming.

 The High Value Crops Development Program of the DA is one of its priority programs aimed at helping address food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable growth. – (FREEMAN)