DILIMAN, Quezon City – A year into the COVID19 pandemic, the Agricultural Training Institute’s (ATI) unwavering support to the “Plant Plant Plant” program of the Department of Agriculture intensifies by engaging more communities around the metro in urban agriculture, and by recognizing their achievements and milestones.
As such, the ATI launched the search for Best ATI Community-based Urban Agriculture Garden 2021. The contest aims to assess developments and recognize performance of all accredited community gardens under the ATI Urban Agriculture Program. The respective accomplishments of participating community gardens are presented in a 3- to 5-minute video, and uploaded on social media. The videos were judged based on their content and aesthetic value. As such, the video must highlight the garden’s production and sales output per unit area; technologies; record management and documentation; number of individuals reached; and community involvement,.
Out of the 40 established urban community gardens in Quezon City and Caloocan since 2020, 19 submitted an entry. These were presented to and rated by a panel of judges last October 12, 2021 at the ATI Central Office’s Mess Hall.
With an average score of 97.67%, the San Diego Elementary School (SDES) in Barangay Batasan Hills was named as this year’s Best Community-based Urban Garden in the National Capital Region. They featured the viability of their Crops in the Clouds, which is an interactive rooftop garden consisting of hydroponics, soil-based gardening, container gardening, and poultry production technologies. Likewise, their aquaponics setup and mushroom production area at the school’s ground floor was also presented. Lastly, the SDES’ video also garnered the highest social media reach with a total of 11,000 views.
As the contest winner, the SDES’ community garden was showcased during the ATI’s Harvest Festival last October 21, 2021. Of which, the school offered an all-out agritourism experience for all the attendees. According to SDES Principal Silverio Estorco, their garden’s best practices lie in three major virtues: continuity, consistency, and intensity. “To gain momentum and partnerships, community gardens must show their assets, capabilities, and commitment through their outputs. They must also ensure that people and its production are properly valued and compensated. Planning, execution, and monitoring are also relevant aspects that can boost intensity of a garden's potential,” he added.
Other contest winners were also awarded at the Harvest Festival, while the remaining participating schools were given supplementary planting materials. SDES has been also declared as a Learning Site for Agriculture (LSA), one of the first farms in the National Capital Region to be accredited as an LSA. In this line, as LSA, the school now becomes a primary partner of ATI in promoting agricultural technologies and conducting extension activities.