THE Davao City Urban Container Garden Program is set to be launched today.
The Davao City Agriculturist Office together with Byaheng DO30 will launch the urban container garden program at 3 p.m. at the rooftop of City Hall Annex Building, A. Pichon St., Davao City.
Davao City officer-in-charge Leo Brian Leuterio, in an interview with SunStar Davao, said the main spirit of the activity is to inspire Dabawenyos, especially in urban areas, to do organic gardening in a small plot of land within their homes.
"Ang idea is gamay na luna maka-produce ug food (The main idea of this project is that people can produce food in a small plot of land)," Leuterio said.
He said based on their model, with a 50 square meter lot, one family can save an estimated P10,000 worth of vegetables per month.
Leuterio said Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte, through the progarm, aims that people in poverty-stricken and largely-populated areas to have food security.
He added that the project also aims to inform those living in the city to also produce their own food and not just rely on farmers with vast tracks of land.
Leuterio said it's easy to maintain an urban container garden, saying, "You may check it twice a day, and it is not that burdensome."
He added that the idea which the Duterte-Carpio administration wants to instill is the fact that people can bring healthy food on their table through their own garden.
The project also addresses waste management through composting.
Leuterio said that after today's launching program, training schedules will be announced, and it will be set twice a month.
Lueterio said financial assistance will be given to individuals who are interested based on their economic capacity.
He added that the CAO will partner with barangays.
"This year we are planning to have five to 10 set up in urban barangays," he said.
He said they will provide seeds, soil and inputs on urban composting.
They are also ready to provide maintenance and technical support.
Leuterio said they are hopeful that the program will be a hit among Dabawenyos and will inspire many people.
He said Mayor Inday is supportive of the project and has allocated budget until 2019.
He said two schools have already contacted him and expressed interest to start the same project in their school yards.