Senator Cynthia Villar has been pushing for home gardening in order to help boost food security and alleviate micronutrient deficiencies of families by providing direct access to nutritious foods that they do not have to purchase.

Villar said we are often confronted by shortage of food supply which leads to a spike in prices during periods of stress like typhoons, occurrence of volcanic eruption.

With home gardens, she said there can be a principal source of food for the household during these times.

Villar, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, also said home gardening can be practiced by anybody in small patches of land, vacant lots or in containers, making it appealing to families living in urban areas.

Villar had issued the statements during the opening of the 13th Agricrops Production Training program at the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (Villar SIPAG) Farm School in Bacoor, Cavite.

Because of this, the Senator called on the participants in the training program to seize the opportunity to generate savings from the harvested vegetables and explore possibilities of generating income from the planted crops through selling and processing.

Villar SIPAG partnered with East-West Seed Foundation to conduct this site-based vegetable production training program wherein participants are capacitated with basic knowledge and skills on vegetable production – from land preparation to harvesting, including urban gardening and nutrition education.

The participants are also trained on the proper ways of preparing natural fertilizers and pesticide control measures including their proper usage and application.

Villar also noted that the focus for this batch is on promoting home gardens as a food security strategy by ensuring steady supply of fresh and safe vegetables for families of trained participants.

From February 5 to 13, about 250 participants from NCR and Region 4A will be taught basic understanding on the principles on tropical common vegetables production; improved techniques on crop management to sustain vegetable production at the household level; proper techniques in setting up urban/container garden; knowledge on the nutritional benefits of vegetables; and formulation of organic inputs using locally available materials./STACY ANG