By Manny Piñol
Secretary, Dept. of Agriculture
“I believe the children are our future,” so goes a line of a very popular song.
But what exactly would be the future of this agricultural country if the children of today do not even know how to plant vegetables or do not even know the smell of the soil and the scent of a tomato flower?
You could blame it on the lack of opportunities in the farm but the fact is today, young Filipinos are leaving the countryside for jobs in the big cities.
Most Filipino children do not even know how to plant vegetables or even just basic gardening.
For many young kids today, the closest they get to farming is by playing Farmville in the computer.
Two weeks ago, during the Cabinet meeting I attended, I talked to Department of Education Secretary Leonor Briones and presented to her the idea of bringing back basic gardening as a special activity for elementary school children in both public and private schools all over the country.
She really liked the idea and so we agreed that DA and DepEd would work together to implement a national school gardening program and the search for the Best School Garden in the country.
While we have not signed a Memorandum of Agreement yet, I have asked the Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Dr. Vivencio Mamaril, to prepare the Program Design.
I have also directed the DA Regional Directors to coordinate with their counterparts in the DepEd so they could start coordinating their activities.
In the proposed MOA that DA is drafting, DepEd will make basic gardening as a special school activity allowing teachers and students to spend time working in their gardens in the back of the school.
DA, on the other hand, will provide technicians, gardening tools, seeds, organic fertilizers and even irrigation equipment.
The search for the Best School Garden will start at the School Districts Level, Municipal, Provincial, Regional and National.
The winner will receive a Presidential Award and prizes in cash and gardening tools.
I have instructed Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat to include in our proposed budget for 2017 an allocation of P20-M to support this program.
The amount set aside for this advocacy may look huge but I believe it is worth it.
I cannot allow a situation where the future generation of this country would not even be able to know the difference between an eggplant and an okra or a chicken and a duck.
(Photos downloaded from Goog
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