RESIDENTS GROW OWN VEGGIES, SAVE P129M

URDANETA CITY— This Pangasinan city (population: 125,450 in 2010) is known for its bagsakan (wholesale) market where all kinds of vegetables from different provinces are sold at wholesale prices.

But its residents rarely buy their vegetables there. Most households maintain vegetable gardens from where they pick fresh crops for the day’s meals.

Communal gardens also line city streets or are put up on idle lands at purok (zones) in villages.

Maintaining vegetable gardens in backyards or front yards has been a way of life for Urdaneta residents for decades now, Mayor Amadeo Perez III said.

“Most residents are active gardeners. Not a piece of land is idle as open spaces are planted with vegetables,” he said, due to Tulungan sa Purok, a project that was started in 1988 even before Urdaneta became a component city in January 1998. The vegetables are grown through organicfarming methods.

Chemical-free

“The city may be operating the bagsakan market but vegetables are still expensive even at wholesale prices,” Perez said. “With their own gardens, residents save money and get fresh and chemical-free vegetables,” he added.

According to the city planning and development office, a family that grows its own vegetables saves a minimum of P30 a day, P900 a month, or P10,800 a year. Since there are 12,000 households in the city, their savings amount to P360,000 a day, P10.8 million a month or P129.6 million a year.

Tulungan sa Purok started as an intervillage cleanliness and beautification contest.

Almost 30 years later, the villages are still evaluated every three months and awards are given at the end of the year to top performing communities.

But the project has evolved into a city lifestyle. It is yearround, multisectoral and multifaceted because it strives to reduce poverty, empower people, pursue good governance and advocates sustainable development, Perez said.