The Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas has recently provided farmers of the Casili Farmers Association in Barangay Casili, Mandaue City with hydroponics farming and organic fertilizers.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said Casili farmers started cultivating the 2,000-square-meter farmland in 2021 and it was only in January that farmers started to plant vegetables such as sponge gourd, eggplant, kamote tops and more.

"The land called Casili Community Garden is a private lot. But with the effort of our Casili barangay captain, he was able to secure clearance from its owners and turn it into a farm," the mayor said.

Cortes said that the project transformed more organic waste into fertilizers and use recyclable waste, such as plastic bottles, to serve as do-it-yourself plant pots which contributed to the city's decreasing waste collection.

He added that Mandaue's waste is 27 percent organic, 36 percent recyclable, 35 percent residual and two percent special waste such as treated medical waste, sludge and grease trap waste.