‘Green’ buildings, villages pushed

As part of its continuing efforts to promote urban agriculture amid the pandemic, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is encouraging residents and building owners to transform their rooftops and verandas into vegetable gardens.

“When applicable, let’s transform rooftops and verandas, in addition to vacant lots, into vegetable gardens that could provide our families steady supply of fresh, nutritious and affordable food,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a statement.

“Bare rooftops absorb and radiate heat, and making them into gardens will also help cool houses and buildings,” he added.

Dar noted that rooftops covered with vegetable gardens are now a common sight in many cities around the world. Meanwhile, many more private companies and city authorities are starting to invest in green roofs, due to its wide-range benefits both for food security and environment concerns, the agri chief added.

“Further, we enjoin local chief executives in Metro Manila and other urban areas to promote the development of ‘green’ and eco-friendly buildings and communities, by issuing appropriate ordinances,” Dar said.

Dar recently had a meeting with officials of RE-TERRA, a youth organization that conducted a national competition to garner innovative, transformative and futuristic designs that integrate agriculture into urban settings.

The group — in partnership with the Agriculture department and Pasig City led by Mayor Regis “Vico” Nubla Sotto — launched the contest in November last year, attracting hundreds of young architects and students from 42 schools nationwide, and three from other countries.

During the meeting, RE-TERRA founder, architect Kathleen Encorporado, presented the four finalists to Dar, who served as one of the judges, along with Sotto and three others.

Encorporado said they will also present the respective designs of the four contest finalists to Sotto this month. As contest lead and host, Pasig City has designated idle lots where the winning designs will be constructed in partnership with interested commercial developers.

“Our dream is to do the RE-TERRA urban design every year, and replicate it with other cities as a joint venture with the developer because this is very doable. It can be a showpiece for the city, the DA and the developer,” said young entrepreneur Jeffrey Oh, who serves as the group’s agritech consultant.

The grand winner will be announced in May 2021, during the Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Month celebration.

Article and Photo originally posted by Manila Times last April 4, 2021 and written by Eireene Jairee Gomez.