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Philippines: Baguio City stresses importance of smart farming

The city government of Baguio is promoting smart urban farming through the construction of techno-demo and hydroponics sites. Dr. Silardo Bested, City Veterinary And Agriculture Office head, said they have already established six techno-demo sites particularly in barangays Kabayanihan, Outlook, Imelda Marcos, Pinget, Dontogan, and Irisan. This is apart from two other sites established by the Department of Agriculture.

© Philippines Information Agency

Bested said that through these demo sites, people who are interested in investing in hydroponics will learn how to do smart urban farming.

"You can farm even if you have a small area. Besides what you produce, you can sell it for a higher price because it's organic," Bested explained.

He added that compared to conventional farming, which takes months before harvest, in hydroponics, the farmer can already harvest after about a month.

© Baguio CVAO

"It's not like you have to do manual work all the time because this is automated. You can set the temperature, and you can also adjust the humidity, including irrigation. It's not labor-intensive. Since it's in a greenhouse, you don't need to use pesticides," he said.

A farmer may invest about P5,000 per square meter for smart urban farming, which can be returned in a year.

Bested shared that the city has 16 agricultural barangays with about 185 hectares of agricultural land and 3,500 farmers registered.

Source: Philippines Information Agency

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