CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela (PIA) - - The Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI) and the 2nd Isabela Mobile Force Company of the Philippine National Police have forged an agreement to establish a model garden to be showcased to urban communities. 

Imelda Guillermo, training director of DA-ATI, said the initiative is part of the agriculture department’s advocacy to encourage families in urban areas to plant vegetables for their daily consumption. 

She said the ATI will provide training on the proper procedures in urban gardening to the police officers of the 2nd Isabela Mobile Force. ATI will also provide vegetable seeds, initial fertilizers, and gardening tools. 

“We will provide the necessary knowledge and the correct processes of urban gardening to the police officers and other personnel under their unit. We agree to develop their camp into a model urban garden site,” Gulliermo said. 

She said the partnership also aims to boost food production in the region and to contribute to the government’s food security agenda. 

Force Commander Lt. Col. Avelino Canceran Jr expressed his gratitude to DA-ATI for providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills in urban gardening. 

He said the initiative is aligned with the Isabela Police Provincial Office’s (IPPO) Project HEAL (Help Ease the Adversities in Life) through the production of vegetables and distribution of seedlings to families living in the urban communities. 

“We believe that this partnership will soon benefit not only the police force in this camp but also the communities that will be willing to replicate the garden that we are establishing,” Canceran said. 

Meanwhile, DA Region 2 also collaborated with the Department of Interior and Local Government for the implementation of the HAPAG program or the Halina't Magtanim ng Prutas at Gulay sa Barangay project in Region 2.

The HAPAG program aims to establish community gardens in every barangay to diversify food sources. The program also complements the ‘Green Growing Garden’ project and the ‘Plants for Bountiful Barangays’ movement of DA. (OTB/MGE/PIA Isabela)