Schools grow veggies, earn prizes

MANILA, Philippines - New classrooms and cash prizes were awarded to the winning schools in the 3rd season of the “Procesong Gulay para sa Masaganang Buhay – Gulayan sa Paaralan” project held at the Sentrong Pamilihan Agricultural Trading Post of Sariaya, Quezon.

A project of Rep. Proceso J. Alcala, “Gulayan sa Paaralan aims to raise farming interest among elementary pupils and high school students as well as their teachers using environment-friendly and healthy (organic/natural) farming practices. Public schools which fall under the second district of Quezon were eligible to join the contest.

Pili Elementary School and Lucena East 3 Elementary School were named grand winners for the Quezon division and Lucena division, respectively. Both schools will receive three new classrooms while the pupils who took part in the project will receive P10,000.

All prizes came from the Priority Development Assistance Fund of Alcala.

DA assistant secretary and regional executive director Dennis B. Araullo said the project encourages the younger generations to go into farming. “Food security is national security so food production is crucial to the stability of our country,” he said.

Alcala expressed optimism that the project would inspire the youth of Quezon to go back into farming and that in the near future, the best vegetable farmers would all come from Quezon province.

Alcala thanked Allied Botanical Corp. which provided for free the vegetable seeds. ABC is the only fully Filipino vegetable seed company in the country with a solid research and breeding program.

ABC corporate communication manager Rommel Lopez, in behalf of the company’s president, Willy Co, thanked the congressman for giving the company the opportunity to be a partner in the project. He expressed Co’s commitment to support the project.

Now on its 3rd year, Gulayan sa Paaralan drew more than 150 elementary and high schools from the 2nd congressional district of Quezon.