Residents of Angono, Rizal, the country’s Art Capital, are encouraged to go into vegetable gardening right in their own premises or in vacant spaces in their community.

To start the greening project, the municipal government has initially distributed seedlings of vegetables such as okra, eggplant, tomatoes, squash, cucumber, chili pepper, string beans, and bottle gourd (upo) to the residents.

Dr. Joel Tuplano, head of the Angono Municipal Agriculture Office told Manila Bulletin that the first day of seedling distribution outside the municipal hall on July 8 had attracted around 175 residents.

The office of Mayor Jeri Mae Calderon said the seedling distribution, dubbed as Pantanim Project, would eventually result in transforming backyards and vacant lots into vegetable gardens with the residents themselves benefiting from the program.

The project was launched as the country observes the month of July as National Nutrition Month.

The municipal government’s community greening program is also aligned with the “Yes Community Garden” project of the provincial government that enjoins village residents to produce their own vegetables right in their respective communities as part of the food sufficiency measure during the pandemic.