Villar: Backyard farming flourished during ECQ

MANILA, Philippines — Many Filipinos are practicing backyard gardening and now have a better appreciation and increased interest in growing their own food during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), Sen. Cynthia Villar said yesterday.

“I am glad that more people are now seeing the benefits of planting vegetables in their own backyard. And I hope the growing interest will continue even after the quarantine is lifted,” said Villar, a proponent of vegetable gardening or backyard farming.

Netizens are posting pictures on social media like Facebook and Twitter their gardening during ECQ, she noted.

Villar, who chairs the Senate committee on agriculture, has long been advocating all forms of farming to ensure food self-sufficiency and security.

Villar said she initiated the establishment of vegetable gardens in her home city of Las Piñas and gave prizes to the best barangay vegetable gardens each year.

During the quarantine period, Villar distributed seed packs and organic fertilizer to all the barangays in Las Pinas as well as parts of Metro Manila, Cavite and Bulacan.

She said that even global organizations Food Agriculture Organization and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture cite that the global pandemic has given rise to urban agriculture because of the disruption in food supply.