The city government of Balanga has embarked on backyard vegetable farming in barangays to make idle backyard areas productive and augment income of local folks. The Kasama Ani sa Barangay or KAANIB started last December 2007, said City Agriculturist Nerissa Mateo. The KAANIB program was hatched by City Mayor Joet Garcia. Mateo said vegetables planted in the backyards here include talong, pichay, sitaw, okra, kalabasa and amplaya. In the program, the city government provides the vegetable seeds, organic fertilizer and technical assistance. The program is also being supported by the provincial government of Bataan. The city government also taught the barangay folks of the composting process to produce organic fertilizers. The city agriculturist said the KAANIB program was already implemented in the 15 of the total 25 barangays of Balanga. Mateo said that Barangay Central has the biggest backyard area of 9 hectares planted with vegetables covered by the KAANIB program. The barangay has its own composting ground. The city agriculturist also revealed that Barangay Central has already earned about P58 thousand in the commercial sales of harvested vegetables since December 2007. The city mayor, according to Mateo, is pushing for commercial sales of vegetables harvested in the KAANIB program. It was learned that harvested vegetables are commercially labeled Balanga’s Fresh. It will be remembered that DOT Secretary Ace Durano was impressed in the commercially packed harvested vegetables presented to him. The tourism secretary visited bird-watching sites in Balanga. Garcia was chairman of Galing Bataan, a program of the Bataan provincial government aiming to develop local products to become world-class by way of improved branding and packaging. The KAANIB program was also featured in Channel 5 television program Maunlad na Agrikultura, said Mateo.