BAGUIO CITY February 23 – The local government recently launched the urban edible or backyard garden contest in the city to help in the promotion and strengthening of the city’s environmental and solid waste management programs.
Councilor Leandro B. Yangot, Jr., Chairman of the City Council Committee on Market, Trade and Commerce and Agriculture, said the main objective of the backyard gardening program is the establishment of urban gardens or backyard farms in the city to promote organic food production, particularly among the marginalized sector of the population to achieve a degree of food security and diversity, that is, to empower city residents to produce food for themselves.
“This is in recognition of the fact that we can safely assume for many city residents that at least 80 percent of their budget goes to food. The other purposes of the program include the production of medicinal plants as well as the preservation of the biodiversity of traditional plant varieties,” Yangot stressed.
He added the project is in consonance with the implementation of the Urban Gardening or Backyard Farming program in various barangays in the city to instill awareness to the residents on the importance of preserving the remaining environment of the city, as well as encouraging them to cooperate in the solid waste management program, particularly in the recycling of waste materials.
One component of the project is the holding of the 2017 urban home garden contest that was recently kicked off and will culminate on April 25, 2017. The urban garden contest and showcase is a city-wide home garden competition and tour in which residents are challenged to show off their edible home gardens for a chance to win gardening prizes and the title of 2017 Best Edible Home Garden in the city.
Yangot underscored the contest jumpstarts a series of activities that include community education to raise the level of creativity of residents on using urban spaces for food production and valuing quality food; technical assistance is available to ensure the productivity and diversity of food crops that can be grown in urban gardens with appropriate technology.
The contest will include a garden showcase day to allow community members to tour participating gardens and receive gardening tips from the city’s top amateur gardeners.
Interested participants to the contest should email their intent to leandrojryangot@gmail.com or at nivram120905@gmail.com providing their first and last names, home address, phone number, a 100-word description of their gardens and up to 4 photos of the edible garden. Contestants may also personally visit the office of Councilor Yangot at City Hall for further details of the contest.
The urban garden contest showcase day is an event to allow registered public to tour participating gardens in the city and that participating gardeners may choose to open all day or choose a period in the day to host tours. The urban gardens will be judged by a committee composed of representatives from the City Mayor’s Office, Councilor Yangot’s office, Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. and the private sector.**By Dexter A. See
