Backyard gardening benefits 819,170 households – DA

A total of 819, households already have their own backyard vegetable gardens under the Programang Gulayan ng Masa (PGMA) of the Department of Agriculture. In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the number represents 96 percent of the targeted 851,384 families this year under the DA initiative. Yap said a total of 174,031 families of these beneficiaries have already harvested what they have planted, which include malunggay, alugbati, saluyot, and other nutritious vegetables that require minimal farm inputs. As of mid-December this year, these beneficiary-households have already harvested 31,640 tons of vegetables combined, he added. The program aims to reduce rural hunger and malnutrition through the promotion of integrated food production through backyard gardening in the country’s rural communities most vulnerable to hunger. It involves the provision of training to beneficiaries and the distribution of starter seeds, planting materials, chicken, swine, small livestock, and fish. Some 1,163 barangays in Masbate, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi as top priority provinces. The program also covers 1,000 barangays in Apayao, Capiz, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, Basilan, Bukidnon, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur. The project is also being implemented in Metro Manila. In Luzon, the project areas Mountain Province, Palawan, Marinduque, Camarines Norte, Romblon, Camarines Sur, Kalinga, Abra, Occidental Mindoro, and Oriental Mindoro. In the Visayas, the areas are Antique, Biliran, Samar, and Negros Oriental. In Mindanao, the areas are Lanao del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Sultan Kudarat, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Maguindanao, Bukidnon, Zamboanga Sibugay, Sarangani, and Misamis Occidental. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV