Kalye Mabunga Features Edible Landscaping, Urban Agri Basics

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Guest expert Bryan Apacionado gives some basic considerations on building edible landscape gardens at home.

Edible landscaping basics were featured for viewers on the latest episode of Kalye Mabunga, a web series initiated by Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) in partnership with the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).

In this episode, guest expert Bryan Apacionado, of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), talked about the science and art of edible landscaping, including the components of crop production and functional design. Viewers were given some considerations and steps in edible landscaping as the expert gave a walkthrough on UPLB’s edible landscape garden.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Angeles, known as “Tito Manny” of Twenty Manila and the main personality on the online series, showed how to make a terrarium in seven easy steps. He, likewise, encouraged the viewers to make one while staying home.

This partnership program of Smart and ATI highlights the need to boost food production in cities while providing the viewers an opportunity for recreation at home amid the global pandemic.

Kalye Mabunga’s previous episodes showcased techniques in urban agriculture, such as seed sowing in backyards, container gardening, square-foot gardening, vertical gardening, and hydroponics. Plant propagation and some do-it-yourself agri projects were also demonstrated.

Cooperators of some ATI Learning Sites for Agriculture in Central Luzon and CaLaBaRZon served as guest experts in different episodes of the program. Specifically, Emma Tolentino, Lourdes Biscocho, Rafael Pagaling, and Gloria Morris, among others, shared their knowledge and best practices on farming.

Apart from these, healthy vegetable recipes were presented at the end of every episode.

Kalye Mabunga piloted last July 17 and will run every Friday at 8PM until September 24, via the Smart Communities and ATI Facebook pages.

ATI Today

Extension services continue to evolve. With the challenges that extension workers and farmers face, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) continues to explore various strategies to improve its efforts as the extension and training arm of the Department of Agriculture. In over 30 years, the ATI has celebrated various successes and learned from the lessons during hard times. Nonetheless, we are proud to be standing the test of time through the support of our partners and the clientele themselves. This is the ATI Today, more committed to bring you extension services beyond boundaries.