The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Diocese of Novaliches launched yesterday the first backyard gardening initiative to benefit 5,573 low-income families.
DA Secretary Arthur Yap, accompanied by Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias, launched the first of a series of “Gulayan sa Simbahan” projects at the six-hectare property of the Notre Dame de vie Retreat House in Novaliches.
Several vegetables such as cucumber, pechay, Chinese kangkong, radish, okra, string beans and lettuce will be planted at the grounds of the retreat house.
Yap, in a statement, said they patterned the program after some of the vegetable-growing projects supported by the Catholic Church at Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila; Silang in Cavite, and Alabang in Muntinlupa City.
He said their agency will provide training and lectures on vegetable production and provide organic fertilizers, garden tools and seeds to residents in the area with the hope that they would become self-sufficient farmers.
Yap said the Gulayan ng Masa project seeks to produce 300,000 metric tons of vegetables for the current year.
This is the latest tie-up between the DA and the Catholic Church. Last month, the Church started helping the government agency in distributing and selling rice at P18.25 a kilo to low-income families through its Tindahan sa Parokya outlets.
There are about 100 Tindahan sa Parokya outlets all over the National Capital Region (NCR). – Evelyn Macairan