JCI ANGELES City Culiat encourages urban farming through its “Lettuce Grow: Hydroponics 101” workshop held last March 19 at The Orchard: Community Place.
Hydroponics Pampanga representatives Mr. Ryan Puno and Ms. Mae Plantilla discussed the basics to start and the benefits of urban farming that is soilless, or what is called hydroponics. Angeles City is an urbanized city where most of its land mass is used for residential houses and commercial buildings. This also means that there is less fertile soil that can be cultivated to grow leafy and green vegetables. In cases like this, soilless urban gardening is the best way to grow vegetables. Culiat aims to create awareness on this gardening method and encourage its members and the community to start growing their own food, especially at this time when prices of necessities are rising.
Hydroponics may also help households to have an extra source of income once they are able to grow more. Farming in general – especially when issues of Filipino farmers’ age and discussions on the succession of farming practices and methods are brought to the table – remains a huge setback for the agriculture industry and for food security at large. Now more than ever, adoption of alternative farming methods and an increased social awareness of these are a must.
