URBAN GARDEN. Jesus Cortes’ containerized garden dubbed as "Jesus Garden" in Mandaue City won at the provincial level of the SugBusog Vegetable Garden Contest of the Cebu provincial government. Cortes uses all-organic fertilizers which have yielded fresh, healthy, and safe vegetables for his family and buyers. (Photo from Jesus Garden FB Page)
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – Jesus Cortes, 42, now has a more compelling reason to expand his containerized vegetable garden.
After winning prize money of around PHP26,000, Cortes is keen on growing further his little garden right at his house.
Cortes was one of the winners of the Cebu provincial government’s SugBusog (Sugbuanong Busog, Luwas ug Himsog), a food security program initiated by the Capitol that came into existence because of the Covid-19 crisis.
Cortes personally received his award from Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Thursday.
Aside from winning a total of PHP18,000 from topping the municipal, district, and provincial levels of the competition, Cortes will receive another PHP8,000 which was pledged by Cebu 6th District Rep. Emmarie Ouano-Dizon.
Dizon also raised the prize money for the other two winners in her district.
Cortes used only 100 square meters of gardening space in his home in Purok 4, Barangay Canduman in Mandaue City.
He lost his job as a tricycle driver after the community quarantine in March as a government response to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and decided to plant vegetables using the free SugBusog seeds provided by the Provincial Agriculturist's Office led by Dr. Roldan Saragena.
Cortes looked at the pandemic as a portal which opened an opportunity for him to consider farming despite the lack of experience and expertise.
He was able to put food on the table amid the health crisis and sell 50 containers of Chinese kangkong and pechay.
His place is now a tourist attraction because of the attractive quality of the produce.
"I use organic fertilizer,” the urban farmer said in Cebuano in an interview on Friday. “I am not using harsh fertilizers.”
Garcia, meanwhile, stressed the SugBusog program offers hope.
“We need to work to survive despite this crisis,” the governor said in the local dialect. “Life is still beautiful despite the challenges. There is hope that we will recover despite these trials. That’s the reason why the SugBusog came into being”.
A brainchild of Garcia, SugBusog is a program created to provide hope to the Cebuanos and encourage their productivity and creativity amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
After four months, the free seeds given to each participant all over the province have now borne fruit bringing fresh and clean vegetables on the Cebuanos’ tables and more income as they were able to sell their extra harvests. (PNA)
