MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has launched an urban garden project in Tondo, Manila to help residents of 17 barangays harvest vegetables which they could sell at affordable prices and cope with the pandemic.
Dubbed “Buhay sa Gulay,” the project is being implemented by the DAR in partnership with St. John Bosco Parish, agriculture department and the Manila city government.
The parish had allowed its soccer field to be converted into more than a hectare vegetable farm.
On Sunday, residents started harvesting leafy vegetables such as squash, pechay, saluyot, spinach and Chinese kangkong among others.
“Tondo residents can now harvest vegetables from the land that we borrowed from the church. They need not go to the market to buy fresh vegetables,” DAR Secretary John Castriciones said.
Castriciones said other local governments in Metro Manila would establish their own urban vegetable garden, such as Quezon City and Caloocan.