ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Eric Go Yap has filed a measure that will incorporate instructional gardens in primary and secondary school curricula and promote the use of urban agriculture in all Metropolitan areas nationwide.

House Bill 10510 or the proposed Instructional Gardens and Integrated Urban Agriculture Act of 2021 aims to address food security concerns.

Yap said the series of community quarantines implemented to curb the spread of the Covid19 has underlined the importance of food security and highlighted the need for sustainable food production.

“At its onset, a lot of people were seen hoarding food supplies, in groceries and wet markets, panicking at the idea of a possible, indefinite lockdown,” he said in his explanatory note.

The measure seeks to develop knowledge and skills, not only in urban and agriculture and vertical farming, but in agricultural food production in general.

“Agriculture is the past, present, and the future. It is the way forward and is the way to further ensure survival,” he said.

The measure mandates the secretaries of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Science and Technology to promote the use of urban agriculture and vertical farming in urban areas and in other areas where such farming methods are suited, as an intervention mechanism to further address food security concerns of the country.

Idle lands or abandoned government lots and buildings owned by either the national government or local governments in state universities and colleges shall be considered for growing crops, raising livestock and producing food.