Lapid wants farms in cities
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
MANILA -- Senator Manuel "Lito" Lapid has filed a bill to create food farms in urban areas to help attain food security.
Under Lapid's Urban Agriculture and Vertical Farming bill, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) will be tasked to teach urban agriculture in schools.
The Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, will look for idle land in urban areas that can be used for growing food and raising livestock.
The DA will convert idle government land and vacant lots in state colleges and universities to food production.
The bill also tasks the Department of Science and Technology to study vertical farming, which involves the construction of skyscrapers or the use of abandoned buildings for cultivating and farming produce and livestock. (Jonathan de Santos/Sunnex)
