San Juan City will be distributing free seedlings to encourage residents to practice urban gardening and ensure food supply amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mayor Francis Zamora on Monday invited his constituents to participate in the Urban Agriculture Program of the local government and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“This program aims to promote urban agriculture in the city to address the food security problem during the pandemic and provide an alternative source of livelihood amid the community quarantine,” Zamora said.

On July 24, the San Juan City government and the Agriculture department forged a partnership to encourage residents to produce their own food through urban gardening.

Under the agreement, the DA would provide the city government with vegetable seeds, seedlings, and other plant materials, which will then be distributed to its residents.

The Bureau of Plant Industry initially turned over 2,000 sets of assorted seeds and trays of seedlings to the local government during the signing of the memorandum of agreement.

“This is a very welcome partnership which would address one of the primary concerns during the pandemic, food security,” Zamora had said earlier.

Residents interested to avail of the free seedlings and be part of the urban gardening program may contact the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO).