President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday said the country’s soil is under threat and continuing to neglect it could lead to a crisis in the future.
The President made the pronouncement at the 1st National Soil Health Summit in Manila where he called for more public-private collaboration to improve soil health in the country and eventually boost agriculture productivity and promote sustainable soil use and environmental production.
“We are all aware that our nation is blessed with rich and fertile lands that fed and empowered our people throughout our history. While that has been the case, we will still find ourselves burdened by grave and urgent issues in providing quality and sufficient food for our people — some of which are caused by factors beyond our control, others are within, in fact, our control,” Marcos said.
He cited data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) which showed that 75 percent of the Philippine cropland is vulnerable to erosion in various degrees, with 457 million tons of agricultural soil and 47,000 forest covers lost every year.
He said around 11 to 13 million hectares of soil are also “considered degraded” and at least 2.2 million hectares “suffer from insufficient levels of soil fertility.”
The President said among the factors that affect the current soil conditions are the improper use of fertilizers and pesticides that pollute and acidify the soil resulting in its degradation, even as the conversion of lands for settlements reduces land for agricultural production and forest covers.
“Needless to say, our soil is under threat and to continue to neglect this vital agricultural component will lead to an even worse crisis in the future,” Marcos said.
The President called for increased collaboration among various stakeholders to avert future crises.
Marcos said the government is currently pursuing a five-point priority agenda on soil and water management under the National Soil Health Program and the Implementation of Sustainable Land Management which promotes proper soil use and management, addressing land degradation, enhancing crop productivity and improving farmers’ income.
He said under the program, the government empowers the Bureau of Soil and Water Management by capacitating soil laboratories across the country to yield better data; conducting a soil and land resources mapping and evaluation process that includes soil-based and land-based level assessments; and doing soil sample analyses and digital map preparations under the Philippine Soil Land Resources Information program.
The program also increases collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, DENR and the Department of Science and Technology to ensure the successful implementation of the projects.
The President added his administration is exploring Water Security for Climate Resilient Rainwater Technologies, and conducting cloud seeding operations for agriculture to improve water conditions in production areas, critical watersheds and reservoirs, and to eventually mitigate the effects of the El Niño phenomenon especially in agriculture.
