Urban agriculture concept takes Nueva Ecija by storm

MUÑOZ, Nueva Ecija -- The urban agriculture concept, which is popular in many countries and which feeds around 700 million people in the world, is taking this town by storm.

At the sprawling Central Luzon State University (CLSU) here, school officials are venturing into an urban agriculture scheme, locally known as receptacle farming, preparatory to the setting up of a "National Urban Agriculture Program (NUAP)."

Dr. Rodolfo Undan, CLSU president, said that under the CLSU model, they make use of growing containers available on the campus, especially those stored in the bodegas. Some others were collected from the houses on campus and student dormitories.

Receptacle farming is so called because it makes use of receptacles, particularly recyclable ones, in growing crops or other agricultural products. These containers include used tires of different sizes, pick-ups trucks and tractors. The upper rim in widened for a bigger planting area while the bottom portion is provided with matting materials like sacks fastened with the use of wires. Some of the tires were made into flower pots or cut into four parts and made into different shapes to serve as containers.

The school has set up a pilot area inside the 658-hectare university compound for the program which is now being quickly duplicated in other towns and cities in the province.

CLSU has submitted to Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara a project proposal for the setting up of a P40-million NUAP center inside the campus. Angara has endorsed the proposal to Conrado Gonzales, national coordinator of the Department of Agriculture's Urban Agricultural Program.

Under the proposal, the center will be known as "Agrikulturang Pambalana sa Kalunsuran at Kabayanan." It is intended to solve the perennial problem of agriculture production being concentrated heavily in rural areas.

To implement the program, CLSU plans to embark on a strategy of establishing a national and local models of urban agriculture projects, tap the involvement of local governments, train key persons, hold national and local conventions among others.

Undan said that for a start, they have even reached agreements with residents of plush subdivisions in the National Capital Region (NCR) to jumpstart the project.