NOVALICHES, Quezon City—The youth, as they say, is the hope and future of the nation, and maybe especially so for the agriculture sector.

Hence, to encourage more young people, especially those in the metro, to engage in farming, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) conducts school visits to talk about the basics of urban agriculture to students and teachers.

This is part of the project entitled “Glamourizing Farming through Urban Agriculture: Metropolitan Youth in Sustainable and Healthy Living” spearheaded by the ATI-Partnerships and Accreditation Division (PAD).

In a recent school visit, staff from ATI-PAD conducted a short lecture on urban agriculture to over 50 senior high school to fourth year college students and teachers of the Metro Manila College. They also gave a demonstration on the mixture of soil media and planting using plastic containers.

Starter kits containing basic garden tools, garden soil, compost, and vegetable seeds were also distributed among the attendees.

“We are thankful for this activity and we hope that the ATI will not tire from conducting seminars like this in schools,” student Philip Dexter Pineda said.

The ATI staff also encouraged the students to be actively involved in agriculture through an orientation about the 4-H Club. They urged the attendees to create their own chapter of the organization, which would be the first in the National Capital Region, where they can be further trained as young farm leaders.

Aside from this, the attendees were also invited to join the ATI’s free seminar series to gain more knowledge about agriculture.

The orientation on urban agriculture was held on September 5, 2018 in this city.