DA and DepEd intensifies Gulayan sa Paaralan in Central Luzon

By Joelyn G. Baluyut

Friday 6th of July 2012

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, July 6 (PIA) -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Education (DepEd) are keen on intensifying the “Gulayan sa Paaralan” program in Central Luzon

The program aims to promote self food production activities and values appreciation of agriculture, as a life support system among children.

“For this year, we have targeted almost 700 schools in the seven provinces of the region wherein we will be giving seven packs of open pollinated variety (OPV) seeds which is good for 200 square meters,” said DA Agricultural Technologist Ricky Manguerra.

“Initially, we have started the distribution in the province of Tarlac, comes next is Pampanga and the other provinces in Cantral Luzon,” he added.

He said the OPV kind of seeds were chosen because they can produce more plant without buying another seed like the kangkong, sili, talong and sitaw

Moreover, Manguerra added that “in a municipality, there should be a four to five Gulayan sa Paaralan so as to even promote the said program.”

Gulayan sa Paaralan Project also aims to address problems on malnutrition by teaching the students the values of eating healthy food through sustaining the supplementary feeding program of DepEd.

Children are taught on how to plant and grow vegetables through natural farming and to replicate it at home to ensure sustainability. (CLJD/JGB-PIA3)