Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William D. Dar and Imus City Mayor Emmanuel L. Maliksi inked a Memorandum of Agreement on Urban Agriculture Project in the city on October 6, 2020, held at the Department of Agriculture Central Office in Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City.

In this agreement, DA shall provide production support services such as starter vegetable seeds, fertilizers, small agricultural tools or equipment, and livestock and poultry animals; and through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, provide fingerlings and aquafeeds, among others to the city government of Imus.

Also, DA shall establish urban agriculture demonstration farms in urban agriculture project sites in Imus, if necessary, in coordination with the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and DA CALABARZON, as well as provide technical assistance in the maintenance and sustenance of the project site in the city.

Aside from that, the Department shall provide Extension Support and Education Training Services such as training modules, information, education, and communication (IEC) materials on urban agriculture techniques and other capacity-building and livelihood training activities in coordination with the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and the BPI through offline or online courses including social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube Live stream, and other available social media platforms.

On the other hand, the city government of Imus shall provide the required area as project site for the establishment of the urban agriculture project of the city government to establish, among others, urban agriculture gardens, demonstration farms, and other urban agriculture facilities to ensure sustainability of the project.

Moreover, Imus city government shall ensure availability of water supply, electricity and other basic needs to support the sustainability of the agriculture productions in the project site, as well as designate personnel who will manage and supervise the urban agriculture project and provide necessary manpower in the establishment and operation of the project site.

The city government shall ensure the security of DA personnel providing technical assistance and other services in relation to the urban agriculture project while promoting and conducting information dissemination activities in relation to the Urban Agriculture Program.

Subsequently, the city government of Imus shall maintain operation records such as production and sales/utilization data, technologies developed/shared farm activities undertaken, farm visitors and trainees served, problems encountered and other relevant accomplishments including photo documentation.

Lastly, they shall submit quarterly accomplishment report/s to DA thru the regional office which include, but not limited to, master list of beneficiaries, number of trained individuals, production data, sales generated from the agricultural production, among others.

Regional Director Arnel V. de Mesa took part in the signing of the agreement that was witnessed by Field Operations Division Chief and High Value Crops Development Program Coordinator Engr. Redelliza A. Gruezo and Agricultural Program Coordinating Office (APCO) of Cavite Chief Mr. Felix Joselito H. Noceda.

This memorandum will significantly strengthen urban agriculture in Imus City. ● (MAP, DA-RAFIS)