City Agriculture Office, Cagayan de Oro City---A quick turn over of garden-variety seeds to the urban facilitators of the City Agriculture Office (CAO) transpired recently for the Go Urban Gardening Making FOOD Available (GUGMA) to jump start the second round of research study in support to the Department of Agriculture's Plant, Plant, Plant Program.

Through the ‘adopt-a-community’ scheme of the center in support to the Urban Agriculture Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), adopt-a-community is a continuing effort to attain food security and become food sufficient among the city’s urban (and rural) communities through its GUGMA gardening initiative.

In a nutshell, GUGMA is anchored via the Plant Plant Plant Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA). Since its early conceptualization last May 2020, GUGMA encourages households to plant vegetables especially in urban community areas. The program also encourages immediate neighbors to join together to organize, build, and manage a community garden since gardening brings an impressive array of benefits to their community and to each household.

The giving away of free seeds and seedlings to vegetable growers and households intend to increase the country’s food adequacy level in this time of pandemic as well as the viability of vegetables as one's source of income. Senior Agriculturist Anita L. Molijon, along with ATI-RTC X colleagues lead the turn-over of vegetable seeds on January 15, 2021 to the urban agriculture facilitators.

The center’s GUGMA is also in support to the “Ahon Lahat, Pagkain Sapat Kontra sa Covid 19 or ALPAS COVID 19”.