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Republic of the Philippines
Department of Agriculture
Bureau of Soils and Water Management
SOILS SURVEY DIVISION
SRDC Bldg. Elliptical Road corner Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1101
Email: [email protected]/[email protected] | Fb. Ssd sha nsst | Telefax: 8923-04742016 SONA Commitment of President Rodrigo R. Duterte
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Soil is a vital resource from which our food and other productive, socio-cultural, and ecological needs are produced and provided. Despite its importance, the soil has been given limited attention and support in terms of its protection and conservation. In truth, it continues to be under the immense pressure of meeting the growing demand for food and aggressive pursuit of economic growth. These, against a backdrop of a changing climate, further predispose our soil resources to degradation.
In the last couple of decades, efforts to address soil degradation and promote sustainable soil management have been sporadic, small in scale, and mostly locally-led. Only in 2016 that a nationally-led initiative underpinning soil as one of the basic foundations of sustainable food production has again been given importance.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte, in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25, 2016, committed to conduct nationwide soil testing and underscored the need for soil rehabilitation and sustainable fertilization to optimize production.
The Department of Agriculture, then under the leadership of Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, commissioned the DA-Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) to lead the task of fulfilling the President's commitment by preparing updated soil-based agricultural guide maps. These maps can serve as additional planning and decision-support tool to improve crop production by providing information on soil nutrient level and fertilizer guide. This undertaking was reaffirmed by current DA Secretary, Dr. William D. Dar, as part of the DA's effort to intensify soil rejuvenation program to sustain increased crop productivity.
Commencing in August 11, 2016, the Soil Health Assessment - National Soil Sampling and Testing (SHA-NSST) project was implemented with initial auspices from the DA-National Rice Program. Together with the DA-Regional Field Offices (DA-RFOs) and the Local Government Units (LGUs), the 47 major rice-producing provinces were covered. In 2017, the DA-BSWM secured a 5-year funding support from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to complete the remaining 34 provinces and 2 cities for rice, and expanded the coverage to corn-growing areas of 23 provinces in 2018-2021.
Essentially, we envision arresting nutrient depletion, reinvigorating the soil health of our agricultural lands, and contributing to the achievement of a "food-secure and resilient Philippines with empowered and prosperous farmers and fisherfolk".
81 provinces and 2 cities for rice and 23 provinces for corn covered
2,714,240 ha (rice) and 481,134 ha (corn) areas surveyed
868 maps prepared
12,324 copies of maps (print and e-copies) distributed; 229,646 copies downloaded
2.076 copies of nutrient level and fertilizer-guide matrices distributed; 16,840 copies downloaded
8 Atlas published; 868 copies distributed
44,357 composite soil samples collected and analyzed
8,767 soil test kits produced and distributed
55 output presentation & turn-over activities conducted with 2,046 participants from the LGUs and DA-RFOs
47 inception briefings conducted with 1,291 participants from the LGUs and DA-RFOs
2 DA-RFO Consultation-Workshops conducted with 230 participants
3 techno-demo sites established covering a total of 45 ha and benefitting 63 farmers
7 trainings conducted with 366 farmers trained
1 international collaborative meeting hosted
961 seasonal (field assistant) and 68 contract of service (COS) jobs generated
List of Completed Provinces for Rice
List of Completed Provinces for Corn
General Findings
Rice Areas (click here for the tabular data)
Soil fertility is moderately low
Nitrogen is low, most notably in Luzon
Phosphorous is low, also notably in Luzon
Potassium is moderately low to moderately high
pH is moderately favorable to favorable
Zinc is deficient
Calcium and Magnesium are sufficient
Corn Areas (click here for the tabular data)
Soil fertility is moderately low
Nitrogen is low, most notably in Luzon
Phosphorous varies
Potassium is high
pH is moderately favorable
Zinc, Calcium and Magnesium are sufficient
The results and outputs were presented in the following events:
Regional XI Regional Development Council Meeting, March 03, 2017, Davao City
BSWM - LGU Forum - Visayas Cluster, September 22, 2017, Cebu City
BSWM - LGU Forum - Mindanao Cluster, October 04, 2017, Davao City
14th National Organic Agriculture Congress, October 23-27, 2017, Cagayan de Oro City
DA-RFO Regional Executive Director's Meeting, February 08, 2018, BSWM Convention Hall
Region IV-A Regional Development Council Meeting, March 2018, Laguna
Small Water Irrigation Systems Association Congress - Luzon Cluster, March 13-15, 2018, Subic, Zambales
Small Water Irrigation Systems Association Congress - Visayas Cluster, April 17-19, 2018, Cebu City
Small Water Irrigation Systems Association Congress - Mindanao Cluster, April 24-26, 2018, General Santos City
Zamboanga City Farm Family Forum, September 28, 2018, Zamboanga City
DA Operations Management Group (OMG) Meeting, October 15-17, 2018, Davao City
1st Cluster-wide Congress for the Recipients of CFBW, January 24-25, 2019, Subic, Zambales
The use of these materials is highly encouraged with proper credit given to the SHA-NSST Project, DA-BSWM, 2016-2021