Participating students from Kalabaylabay Elementary School in El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental proudly flaunt their certificate as joined by the schools' faculty and staff along with Agriculturist II Cristine A. Galupo and DMO-I Jisa T. Dulay (foreground, extreme left).
El Salvador, Misamis Oriental---With malnutrition and hunger considered as persistent problems that our country encounters, the Gulayan sa Paaralan (GPP) Program was introduced to all public elementary and secondary schools nationwide with the intent to promote food security and economic stability. The program was also in support to the hunger-mitigation initiatives of the government as spearheaded by the Department of Education (DepEd).
ATIng Gulayan is a Department of Agriculture (DA) project by which ATI with other attached DA agencies commit to put up household home gardens, shared gardens, and school gardens, and those in government and private offices based on the receptiveness of partner institutions/LGUs. The project aims to promote food security in schools through self-help food production activities and values among the learners, and express appreciation for agriculture as a life support system.
For school garden, they must have plot gardens and other available space to set-up gardens vertically. The ATI will provide initial inputs like seeds, organic fertilizers and will also provide seminars/trainings. The school garden will serve not only as a venue to grow and produce vegetables, but also for the students to have real appreciation for agriculture by being in the field and “dirtying their hands” while appreciating the food production system.
Since its launching last July, three schools had its graduation ceremony with field day at Iba Integrated School in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon on November 11, 2019; Basecamp Elementary School in Maramag, Bukidnon on Nov.12, 2019; and Kalabaylabay Elementary School in El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental on November 14, 2019 respectively.
The ATI-RTC X in close collaboration with DA-RFO X provided training starter kits like vegetable seeds (pinakbet), garden tools (hand trowel, bolo, sprinkler, hand fork), polyethylene bags, polyethylene pots, nylon as trellis, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), vermicast, Nature Farming Technology System (NFTS) IEC materials and concoctions (FFJ, FPJ, IMO, OHN, NIA, FAA, CaPhos), and Carbonized Rice Hull (CRH). (with reports from Cristine A. Galupo, Agriculturist-II and Jisa T. Dulay, DMO-I)