San Juan City government will be distributing assorted vegetable seeds, seedlings, and other planting materials to its residents to ensure food security and supply amid the pandemic.

In a social media post, Mayor Francis Zamora said the local government is pushing urban agriculture program in the city to encourage residents to practice urban gardening.

The program is also aimed at providing alternative food resources for the residents while the city is confronting the impacts of the health crisis.

Zamora urged residents to be part of this initiative which intends “to empower families living in urban areas to produce their own food.”

Through the San Juan City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), residents will be provided with free seedlings, vegetable seeds and other planting materials.

“Ang programang ito ay naglalayong itaguyod ang urban agriculture sa lungsod upang matugunan ang problema sa food security ngayong panahon ng pandemya at magbigay ng isang alternatibong mapagkukunan ng kabuhayan sa gitna ng Community Quarantine (This program aims to promote urban agriculture in the city to address food security problem during the pandemic and provide an alternative source of livelihood amid the community quarantine),” Zamora said.

Residents who are interested to avail of the urban gardening program may contact the CENRO hotline via telephone number 7729-0114 during office hours or may call and text 0961-0788-935 or 0917-3870508.

Residents may also register via tinyurl.com/SJUrbanAgri.

Successful registrants of the urban agriculture program will be contacted by the CENRO to provide further details on the distribution process of free seedlings.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has earlier partnered with the San Juan government to further promote urban gardening to advance food security within communities.

DA has initially turned over some 10,190 packs of different vegetable seeds with trays of seedlings and a sack of compost, which will then be distributed to its residents. (PNA)