GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 11 August) — What started as a humble greenhouse experiment in 2017 has grown into a thriving community movement aimed at transforming urban farming and boosting climate resilience in Mindanao.
Organikian Agriventures Corporation, founded by Christian Castañeda, began with a simple yet powerful idea: healthy, fresh, and chemical-free food should be accessible even in the heart of the city.
From a modest lot growing lettuce, Organikian has since expanded into a lush urban farm, complete with a farm-to-table café and training center, promoting sustainable agriculture and healthier lifestyles.
From a small greenhouse to a community movement
“Our personal experiment in growing lettuce soon attracted curious neighbors and friends who wanted to learn how to grow their own food,” Castañeda told MindaNews.
According to him, that curiosity sparked a deeper mission: to make urban farming not just a personal hobby, but a “community movement for health, sustainability, and livelihood.
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That mission was tested during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when disrupted supply chains left many families struggling to find fresh vegetables.
Vegetable prices rose by about 15% that year due to supply chain disruptions, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Operating on a small scale, Organikian decided to open its gates to sell produce directly to households. Castañeda recalled how the response was overwhelming.
“People told us our produce was a lifeline–that reaffirmed why urban farming matters not just as a hobby, but as a vital resource in times of crisis,” he said.
Scaling up with new support
Now, armed with a ₱400,000 grant from the Department of Labor and Employment’s Adjustment Measures Program awarded last August 7, Organikian is poised to scale up its climate-resilient farming systems and empower more communities across Mindanao.
DOLE-12 Regional Director Joel M. Gonzales highlighted the importance of supporting local enterprises through this program.
“Our goal is to help businesses adapt to economic shifts, strengthen their operational resilience, and protect employment in priority sectors like agriculture and food security,” Gonzales said.
According to Castañeda, the funding will support the installation of 20 aeroponics towers–vertical, soilless farming systems that grow plants suspended in air and fed by nutrient-rich mist.
Castañeda said this technology, which uses significantly less water and space than traditional farming, will boost crop yields by more than 200% within the same growing area.
“It will help supply our café and local partners with fresh, pesticide-free greens, expand training for students, barangay groups, and aspiring agripreneurs, and demonstrate scalable models across Mindanao,” he added.
Understanding the limits
While smart-farming technology, such as hydroponics and aeroponics, offers promising benefits, experts caution that it is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Agriculture specialist Edmundo Cejar noted that such intensive farming requires “high initial investment and a longer gestation period.”
“Aeroponics works best in areas where land is scarce or expensive and is suited for high-value crops like lettuce and salad tomatoes,” he told MindaNews.
According to him, Mindanao has plenty of land for soil-based agriculture and will still rely heavily on traditional methods for staples such as rice and corn.
Cejar emphasized that soilless systems should complement, not replace, conventional methods.
Youth as catalysts for change
Castañeda believes urban farming can offer sustainable livelihoods and innovative income streams, especially for the youth.
“We want young people to see agriculture as high-tech, profitable, and sustainable,” he said, noting that this shift in mindset is crucial to the future of food security.
He shared the story of a young agriculture student who returned months after training to say he had built his own small hydroponic setup at home, describing how his household’s income and nutrition had improved.
“He had started growing vegetables not only for his family but selling surplus to neighbors,” Castañeda recalled.
Building capacity for the future
Organikian is already certified as a Learning Site for Agriculture by the Agricultural Training Institute, hosting farm tours, workshops, and hands-on training to introduce climate-smart farming technologies.
According to Castañeda, the upcoming aeroponics expansion will include dedicated demo sessions and training modules for soilless systems, enabling farmers to replicate the model in their own communities.
The system will also serve as a live demonstration site for educational tours and collaborations with local government units.
Organikian hopes the use of smart-farming technologies offers a hopeful path forward in securing food security in Mindanao.
“Small urban spaces can become powerful sources of healthy food. Our role is to educate, inspire, and empower communities to adopt these practices for a more resilient Mindanao,” Castañeda said. (Guia A. Rebollido/MindaNews)
