One laudable project that aims to teach elementary school kids how to plant high-value vegetables, and also to encourage them to eat vegetables, was launched recently by East-West Seed Company in two elementary schools in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

This is the Tanim sa Kinabukasan project which is being undertaken by the company in collaboration with participating schools, local government units and the Synergeia Foundation, a non-governmental organization.

The first two participating schools are the Kaliwanagan Elementary School and Manicla Elementary School in San Jose. At Kaliwanagan where the launching was made, some five hundred people attended, including farmers, government officials, teachers, students and other community residents.

As an advocacy project of the seed company, the program is envisioned to be carried out in as many schools as possible all over the country. The only requirement is that the elementary school must be willing to be a partner, with the support of the local government authorities. Under the scheme, the elementary school kids are taught how to grow vegetables not only through lectures but by actually doing the gardening themselves in the school premises with the guidance of the seed company’s technicians.

East-West Seed provides the hybrid seeds, the small greenhouse for raising the seedlings the modern way, tools and equipment needed by the school children, plastic mulch and other inputs. At the launching, the visitors really saw for themselves the profusely fruiting vegetables that were planted earlier by the school children, including tomato, eggplant, sweet pepper, hot pepper and others.
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SUNSHINE CHICKEN SEMINAR. A seminar on raising Sunshine free-range chicken will be held on February 13, Saturday, from 2 to 5 p.m., at the AANI Urban Farm in Antipolo City. For more information log on to http://solraya.blogspot.com. The AANI Urban Farm is located at No.1 Earl St., Kingsville Court Subdivision along Sumulong Highway. Entrance is across the Shell gas station.