First and Second Quarter Issue - Bureau of Soils and Water

Transcription

BSWM
SOILSCAPE is the official soil and water resources assessment quarterly bulletin of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management January
January‐
June 2011, Vol. 2 No. 1 January‐June 2011, Vol. 2 No. 1
Soil Survey and
Classification of San
Luis, Aurora
contents
Sustainable Agriculture
Practitioners in Mindanao
Organize Network for Info
Sharing, Policy Advocacies
and Marketing
3
The Soils of San Luis, 4
Aurora
Zamboanga Peninsula: All
Set for Organic Fertilizer
Production
10
PHILCAT Participates in 12
the Share Fair and 15th
Annual WOCAT Workshop
and Steering Meeting in
Kyrgyzstan
BSWM Launches Updated 13
NAP-DLDD
The Potential of Malalag
Watershed
14
BSWM Holds National
15
Consultation and Book
Launching of the Soil and
Water Resources RD/E
Agenda 2011 to 2016
Recognizing the Vital Role 17
of the Trees
The Magic of Worms 19
INFERNO 20
Homage to Tatang 21
NEWS BRIEF 22
2
news bits
Sustainable Agriculture Practitioners in Mindanao Organize Network for
Info Sharing, Policy Advocacies and Marketing
The Mindanao Network for
Sustainable Organic Farming Systems (MINSOFS) Inception Workshop was held in SEARSOLIN,
Xavier University College of Agriculture, Manresa, Cagayan de Oro
City, April 26-27, 2011 as response
to the call of the Korean-based
Asian Network of Sustainable Organic
Farming
Technologies
(ANSOFT) to organize both government and non-government organizations to promote sustainable
agriculture in the Asian region.
Spearheaded by the Bureau of
Soils and Water Management
(BSWM) and attended by both
government and non-government
organizations practicing sustainable agriculture/organic farming in
Mindanao, MINSOFS was conceived as a unified front to address
various issues and challenges relating to technology sharing, policy
advocacies, and marketing concerns in Mindanao.
ANSOFT is the second of
the two PAN-ASIAN Projects of
the Korean-based twelve-member
Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (AFACI) with
headquarters at the International
Technical Cooperation Centre
(ITCC), Rural Development Administration (RDA), 250 Seudundong, Gweonseon-gu, Suwon, Korea. The twelve (12) member
countries of AFACI are Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Korea,
Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines,Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Dr. Gyong
Rae-Chowas the first Secretary
General but there has been a reorganization in February 2011 and
Dr. Giwan Yi is temporarily taking
Participants and BSWM Secretariat during MINSOFS Inception Workshop: Standing from left – Janet
Operario, BSWM (Secretariat), Henry Apolinares (BSWM-Dalwangan Research Center), Richard Butch
Cabilan (Dumingag LGU), Aladino Moraca (Eco-Agri Foundation), Vic Tagupa (XUCA-Sustainable
Agriculture Center), Ernie Brampio (BSWM-SWAC Region X), Mayor Nacianceno M. Pacalioga, Jr.
(Dumingag LGU), Aurora M. Manalang (BSWM-Secretariat), Father Rene D. Soldevilla (Sustainable
Agriculture Ministry), Eva Jure P. Salomon (SERVICE), Amy Yambot (BSWM-Soil Biology), Sansen
Ramos Maglinte (SIBAT), Bobby Pagsusura (MASIPAG-Mindanao), Derick Lao-ay (SEARICEMindanao), Frank Esdrelon (SEARICE-Mindanao), Feliza Tagupa (Kalitungan Upland Sustainable
Farming), Marcelina Palis (BSWM-Soil Biology), Cathlyn Joy dela Torre (MINSOFS Facilitator).
Seated from left: Jovette Tenorio (BSWM- Information Technology), Alberto Salaum (BSWM-Dalwangan
Reseach Center), Juliet Manguerra (BSWM-Information Technology), Rodelio Carating (MINSOFS
Principal Investigator), Gil Carandang (Facilitator, Centre for Natural Farming Initiatives), Angelita
Marcia (BSWM – Vermicomposting) and Karen Salandanan (BSWM – Organic Agriculture).
over as AFACI Secretary General.
The first of the two PAN-ASIAN
projects is the Agricultural Technology Information Network of
Asia; and in the Philippines, the
principal investigator is the Bureau
of Agricultural Research (BAR).
The Korean organizer for
ANSOFT is Dr. Youn Lee of the
Organic Agriculture Division, National Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, RDA, Korea. In the
Philippines, the ANSOFT principal
investigator is Rodelio Carating of
the BSWM. The ANSOFT rationale sprung from the vital need for
organic farming to contribute and
to impoverish Asian farmers
through improved income and food
3
security, higher productivity at
less external inputs, and more
sustainable farming approach for
the environment and human beings. ANSOFT is hinged on the
principle that the promotion of
organic agriculture is a responsibility of both government and
non-government organizations
and the civil society.
The MINSOFS inception
workshop resulted in the creation
of a Core Group chaired by Director Vic Tagupa of Sustainable
Agriculture Center, Xavier University College of Agriculture; co
-chaired by Sibol ng Agham at
(Continued on page 10)
The Soils of San Luis,
Aurora
By
Soil Survey Division Staff
SOIL CLASSIFICATION
Municipality of San Luis
is located on the southern part of
Aurora Province and lies approximately between east longitude
121°16´35´ and north latitudes of
15°28´ to 15°42´. It has a total
area of about 67,529 hectares or
21.92 percent of the total area of
the province and is considered the
biggest land area.
The area is bound on the
north by Maria Aurora municipality; on the South Municipality of
Dinggalan; on the east Municipality of Baler and the west, the
Province of Nueva Ecija. Greater
portion occupies the hills and
mountains, the small area is level
to nearly level. It is seven (7)
kilometres away from Baler, the
capital of the Province.
Generally, the municipality of San Luis consist typically
of low hills, extensive rugged
mountain in the northern sector
and a small plain and marshes a
contagious part of the Baler, San
Luis Inland Valley. The alluvial
plain areas are partly affected by
slight seasonal flooding, either
run-off or river overflow. The
Sierra Madre range runs along the
Municipality of San Luis, Baler
plains with a V-shape configuration facing the Philippine sea.
Patches of coastal level areas
formed by alluvial deposition
along main rivers forms a part of
4
the geomorphological function.
The mountainous areas
attain an elevation of 1,800 meters AMSL along the Sierra
Madre range. The external drainage of most of the area is rapid to
excessive, due to its natural steep
dissection while the internal
drainage is good to fair in most
cases. Level areas are also moderately well to well drainage except
the depressed areas covered by
the Dolongan series which are
submerged and flooded.
San Luis is one of the
town of Aurora Province that is
(Continued from page 4)
primarily agricultural. Agriculture is one of the principal occupation of the people in this locality. The most common crops
grown in the area are coconut,
rice, citrus, corn, banana and root
crops.
Coconut is the major crop
in the area. Large coconut areas
are in Barangays Nonong Sr., El
Pimentel, Real, San Isidro and
Ditumabo. This crop is planted in
level and hilly areas. There are
isolated areas which are planted
to paddy rice irrigated and coconut mostly in alluvial fans in the
locality of El Pimentel. Some areas planted with coconut area are
intercropped with citrus, coffee,
pineapple and banana.
Rice is the next leading
crop in this municipality. It can
be found in Barangay Zarah, San
Isidro, Bacong and El Pimentel.
Some areas grown to rice are irrigated and cultivated twice a year.
However, those non-irrigated areas are sometimes planted twice a
year depending on the availability
of rainfall. While, rice areas
which are not used for the second
cropping are used to corn, rootcrops, i.e. peanut, sweet potato,
cassava and sometimes vegetables.
Banana is the third widely
grown economic crops in the municipality. This is grown in
Barangay San Jose, Sarah, Dibut,
Ditumbo, San Isidro, Nonong Sr.,
Real Dicapinisan, Diamot and
Diteki.
The rolling to hilly areas
of the project are cultivated to up
land crops but some of this areas
are dominantly idle. In this region, tree crops in small patches
are normally raised. The steep
slopes and mountainous areas
which is about 88% of the total
area of the municipality is occupied with virgin and secondary
forest.
SOILS OF THE AREA
The soils of San Luis Municipality, Province of Aurora
consist of different soil series and
variant which are mapped according to their slope classes, degrees
of erosion and flooding hazard
and are referred to as soil mapping units. The soils on the alluvial plain are derived from the
alluvial materials from the higher
lying areas while those of the
hills and mountains are formed in
situs from igneous rock, basalt,
andesite, shales and sandstones.
The soils of the area are
categorized into three (3) major
landscapes, namely: (1) the soils
of the alluvial landscape, (2) the
hilly and mountainous landscape
and (3) miscellaneous land type.
The soil series with 12 soil mapping units and one (1) soil variant
under the first category, two (2)
soil series with three (3) soil mapping units and one soil association in the higher classification
under the 2nd category and two
(2) land types under the 3rd category are identified. SOILS OF THE ALLUVIAL
LANDSCAPE
This landscape dominantly occurs on level to nearly
level (0-2%) and party gently
sloping (2-5%) position. The
complexities of soil function and
influenced by physiographic position, soil drainage, stratification,
and morphological characteristics
resulted in the formation of the
most of this series in this landscape.
5
The alluvial soils occupy
an area of about 5,458.0 or 8.08
percent of the total land of the
project.
AGUSTIN SERIES (Ag)
The Agustin series is a
member of the course loamy
mixed, isohyperthermic of the
Typic Eutropepts. These soils are
well drained and moderately deep
found on level to nearly level
river terrace of the alluvial landscape and are subject to slight
seasonal flooding to the river
overflow. The Agustin solid is
mainly planted to coconut with
small portion devoted to vegetables and citrus.
Range in Characteristics
The solum thickness of
Agustin series ranges from 50100 cm. The natural inherent fertility is moderate and available
phosphorous is deficient while
available water holding capacity
is moderate. Exchangeable potassium is deficient. The surface or
A horizon 20 cm. thick are
brown, yellowish brown or dark
yellowish brown clay loam and
silty clay, sticky, to slightly
sticky, plastic and firm when
moist; structure is weak to moderate angular to sub-angular. The
pH soil reaction is 5.5 to 6.2.
The
C
horizon
(substratum) are dark grayish
brown silt loam to (fine) sandy
loam with loose to friable consistency. Sandy materials are always
present on this layer. The pH soil
reaction is 6.2 to 6.4.
SAN MIGUEL SERIES (Sm)
The San Miguel series is a
member of the fine loamy over
sandy, mixed, isohyperthermic
family of Typic Eutopepts. They
are moderately deep, well drained
soils formed on weekly stratified
alluvium occurring on level to
nearly level river terrace of the
alluvial landscape.
San Miguel series ranges from 50
-120 cms. The soil reaction
ranges from slightly acid to neutral with pH of 5.0-6.4 in the A
horizon and pH of 5.2-6.3 in the
B and C horizon. These soils
have low organic matter content.
Natural inherent fertility is moderate to high. Available phosphorous is adequate for specific
crops. Available holding capacity
is moderate. The A horizon is 1525 cms. thick brown, yellowish
brown or dark yellowish brown
silty clay loam or silt loam with
weak to moderate angular to subangular breaking to granular
structure. Consistency is slightly
sticky, sticky, slightly plastic, and
firm when moist. The cambic B
horizon, 50-150 cms thick is
brown, yellowish brown or dark
yellowish brown silty clay loam
to sandy clay loam with few to
common yellowish brown, light
yellowish brown and brown mottles. Soil structure is weak to
moderate fine and medium angular breaking to granular. Consistency is slightly plastic, firm
when moist and friable when dry.
Stratified layers are dark grayish
brown or very dark grayish
brown or very thick brown,
brown dominantly sandy with
fine loamy strata.
QUINGUA SERIES (Qg)
The soil of Quingua series
is a member of the fine clayey,
mixed, isohyperthermic family of
Typic Tropudalfs. They are deep,
well drained soils that occur on
medium river terrace and levees
of the alluvial landscape and are
not affected by seasonal flooding
during rainy season.
Quingua soils have solum
thickness ranging from 100-150
cms. The soil reaction falls within
medium acid range with pH of
5.6 to 6.0 on both A and B horizons. The natural inherent fertility of the soil is moderately high
with low organic matter content.
The cation exchange capacity and
base saturation are high but exchangeable potassium is moderate available water holding capacity and the permeability is moderately slow. The A horizon 15-30
cms. thick are brown, yellowish
brown or dark yellowish brown
silty clay loam to clay loam with
weak to moderate angular to
subangular blocky structure. Consistency is sticky, plastic and firm
when moist.
The argillic (Bt) horizon,
50-100 cms. thick are brown, yellowish brown heavy silty clay,
sandy clay to clay with moderate
to strong, fine and medium angular to subangular blocky structure. Consistency is sticky to very
sticky, plastic to very plastic and
firm when moist.
PENARANDA SERIES (Pn)
The soils of Penaranda
series is a member of the fine
loamy over sandy skeletal mixed
isohyperthermic family of Lithic
Eutropepts. These soils are shallow to moderately deep well
drained soils formed on alluvial
river terrace landscape.
Peñaranda soils have
solum thickness varies from 2050 cms. with soil reaction ranging
6
from pH 5.8 to 6.4 in the A and B
horizons. The A horizon 20 cm.
thick are brown, yellowish
brown, dark brown silt loam.
Consistency is slightly sticky to
non-sticky, slightly plastic to non
-plastic, friable when dry. The
subsoil (Cambic B) 20-50 cm
thick are brown, dark yellowish
brown or dark brown silty loam
to clay loam. Consistency is
slightly firm when moist, below
the subsoil is the substream
which is gravelly loam.
The soils of Peñaranda
have low to moderate inherent
fertility, the organic matter content is low, available water holding capacity is moderate and
moderate in available phosphorous but high in base saturation.
Cation exchange capacity is generally moderately high. This soils
is mainly planted to coconut.
BALER SERIES (Ba)
Baler series is a member
of coarse loamy over sandy skeletal mixed, isohyperthermic family
of Oxic Dystropepets. They are
shallow to moderately deep, well
drained soils occurring on level to
nearly portion of the alluvial fan
terraces.
The solum thickness varies from 40 to 80 cm with soil
reaction ranging from strongly to
slightly acid with a pH of 5.0 to
5.2 in the A horizon and 5.5 to
6.2 in the B and C horizons. The
natural inherent fertility of this
soil is moderate with low to moderate organic matter content. The
base saturation and the cation exchangeable potassium is deficient. Available water holding
capacity and the permeability are
moderate and so with the available phosphorous.
(Continued from page 6
Figure 1. Soil Map of San Luis, Aurora
The A horizon, 15 to 20
cm thick are dark yellowish
brown, dark brown, slightly
sticky, slightly plastic, slightly
firm, sandy clay loam to silty clay
loam, weak fine, angular breaking
to granular structure. The cambic
B horizon 40-80 cms. thick are
yellowish brown, dark yellowish
brown, dark brown, slightly
sticky, slightly plastic, slightly
firm or friable when dry, silty
clay loam to sandy clay loam.
Structure is weak to moderate
fine and medium angular breaking to sub-angular blocky. The C
horizon is dark yellowish brown,
non-sticky, non-plastic, friable
when dry, silt loam, layers of
sand and gravels are always present below the substratum.
UMINGAN SERIES (Um)
Umingan soils is a member of fine loamy over sandy
skeletal mixed, isohyperthermic
family of Typic Eutropepts. They
are shallow to moderately deep,
well-drained soils and are found
on nearly level to gently sloping
alluvial fan terrace.
The solum thickness varies from 40 to 90 cms. with soil
reaction from pH 5.1 to 6.0 in the
A and B horizons and 6.0 to 6.2
in the C horizon. The natural inherent fertility is high to very
high with moderate organic matter content. The base saturation
and the cation exchange capacity
are high while the exchangeable
potassium and available phosphorous is adequate and medium in
water holding capacity. Permeability is moderate.
The A horizon, 15 to 20
cm. thick are dark brown, yellowish brown, clay loam to sandy
clay loam, slightly sticky, slightly
plastic, slightly firm, the Cambic
B horizon 40 to 90 cms. thick are
dark yellowish brown, yellowish
brown clay to clay loam, sticky to
slightly sticky, plastic to slightly
plastic, slightly firm. Below the
solum are yellowish to brownish
in color with layers of water worn
gravels.
of alluvial origin from the surrounding high lands. These soils
are mainly located at the barangays along the coastal area. Most
of this exhibit characteristics
similar with that described representative for the series. This is
principally planted with coconut.
Umingan sandy clay
loam, 0.2 percent slopes, no seasonal flooding (UmA) 538.0 hectares.
The soils of Bacong falls
under the fine clayey illitic, acid,
isohyperthermic family of Typic
Tropaquepts. They are moderately deep to deep, very poorly to
This mapping unit is
found on nearly to gently sloping
7
BACONG SERIES (BcA)
poorly drained soils which occur
in the alluvial plain landscape.
Bacong soils ranges from 80 to
120 cm. with soil reaction varies
from pH 5.0 to 5.7 in the A and B
horizons including the C. The
natural inherent fertility is moderate while the organic matter content is deficient. The base saturation and cation exchange capacity
is high but the exchangeable potassium is deficient and available
phosphorous is adequate. The water holding capacity and the permeability is high. The A horizon
20 to 30 cm. thick has very dark
gray, gray, olive gray, dark grayish brown or dark olive gray, silty
clay to silty clay loam with few
dark grayish brown or greenish
gray mottles. Consistently is
slightly sticky to sticky, slightly
plastic to plastic, slightly firm to
firm. The cambic B horizon 80 to
130 cm deep from the soil surface
is gray, dark gray, olive to olive
gray, very dark gray or greenish
gray, silty clay, silty clay, silty
clay loam to clay. Consistency is
sticky and plastic when wet and
firm when moist. Cg horizon
weakly stratified (dark) greenish
gray, bluish gray, olive gray, light
gray to gray and pale olive silty
clay loam.
DOLONGAN SHALLOW
SOLUM VARIANT (D1vA)
The soils of Dolongan
variant is a member of fine
loamy, mixed isohyperthermic
family of Typic Hydraquents.
These are shallow to moderately
deep, very poorly drained soils
found in low plain or depression
of inland marshes of the alluvial
landscape and are formed from
deposition of fluvion marine ma-
terials decomposition of hydrophytic of fluvio marine materials
decomposition of hydrophytic
organic materials. They are subject to severe seasonal flooding
during wet and dry season.
The Dolongan has solum
thickness varies which from 40 to
80 cms. The soil reaction is from
strongly acid to medium acid pH
4.0 to 5.0.
The surface soil 20 to 50
cm thick has light gray to gray,
dark brown or very dark grayish
brown loam or ripe clay with few
partly decomposed and undecomposed plant residues. The underlying layer to a depth of 100 cm,
is dark grayish brown, olive gray,
bluish or greenish gray loam, silty
clay or ripe clay with few to common partly decomposed or undecomposed plant residues, but below 100 cm. a depth of 200 cm. is
greenish and bluish gray (finer)
loam. These soils are moderately
high in organic matter content but
very low inherent fertility. Base
saturation and exchangeable potassium are low but high in available phosphorous. Salinity is
moderate to strong with seasonal
high water table. Permeability is
slow to very slow.
THE SOILS AND THE HILLS
AND MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE
The soils of the hills and
mountains are developed in place
from the weathering of various
rocks. Annam, Luisiana and soil
association in higher level of
classification are derived from
weathering of basalt, andesite,
shale and other volcanic rocks.
The soils of the hills comprises of
the two soil series, namely; the
Annam and Luisiana. There are
8
found on undulating to gently
rolling with a slope varying from
18 to 25 percent and have an area
of 1,402 hectares or 2.08 percent
of the project area. The mountainous landscape consists of only
one soil association found on rolling to strongly rolling including
undifferentiated mountain soils
with a slope of 25 percent and
above where no trails and road
are available and low potential
for agriculture. These soil association covers an appropriate area
of 32, 637 hectares or about 48.33
percent while undifferentiated
mountain soils cover an approximate area of 271129 hectares or
40.17 percent of the municipal
area.
ANNAM SERIES (An)
Annam series is a member
of clayey, acid mixed isohyperthermic of Typic Dystropepts.
They are moderately deep, well
drained soils occurring on undulating to gently rolling slightly
dissected volcanic foothills that
are developed from residual materials.
The cultivated areas consist of banana, coconut and other
tree crops while shrubs and
grasses prevails in idle areas.
In solum, thickness varies
from 40 to 80 cms. Soil reaction
ranges from pH 5.0 to 5.2
throughout the horizon. The natural inherent fertility is medium.
Organic matter content is also
medium. The available water
holding capacity is low and moderate in available phosphorous.
Base saturation is also low and
cation exchange capacity is moderate to adequate.
The surface horizon 15 to
20 cms. thick are brown to dark
brown, light yellowish brown,
silty clay to clay. Consistency is
sticky to slightly sticky, plastic,
to slightly plastic, firm to slightly
firm when moist. Structure is
weak angular breaking to granular structure. The subsurface B
horizon with hues of 7.5YR, 5YR
AND 2.5YR, are strongly brown,
yellowish brown, brown to dark
brown and olive brown clay.
Consistency is sticky, plastic,
firm when moist, moderate fine
and medium, angular to subangular blocky structure. Few to
common stones and boulders are
always present. The C horizon
below the solum are strong
brown, light yellowish brown
clay. Boulders are also found in
this layer.
LUISIANA SERIES (Lu)
The Luisiana series is a
member of fine clayey, acid
mixed isohyperthermic family of
Orthoxic Tropudults. They are
deep well drained soils occurring
on undulating to rolling slightly
dissected volcanic hills and ridges
and are developed from volcanic
materials like basalt and andesite.
The solum thickness varies from 100 to 150 cms. Field
soil reaction ranges from pH 5.0
to 5.2 in the A and 5.2 and 5.5 in
B and C horizons. The natural
inherent fertility and organic matter content is deficient. The available water holding capacity is
low and deficient in available
phosphorous for specific crops,
but low in base saturation. The
cation exchange capacity is moderate. Permeability is exchanged
to be moderately slow. The A horizon 15-30 cms. thick are reddish
brown, yellowish red or dark reddish brown, dark yellowish clay
loam to clay. Consistency is
sticky, plastic, firm, weak to
moderate angular to sub-angular
blocky structure, diffuse to gradual boundary. The argillic B horizon ranges from 100-500 cm.
thick are yellowish to dark reddish brown, red or strong brown
dominantly clay with few distinct
yellowish red mottles. It has moderate to strong angular to subangular blocky structure. Consistency is sticky, plastic, firm. Few
partially weathered rock fragments. The C horizon below the
range of the subsoil are strong
brown, red or dark reddish brown
clay with few red mottles. Consistency is sticky, plastic, firm
with common to many partially
and few highly weathered rock
fragments. Structure is moderate
to strong.
EUTROPEPTS-TROPUDULTSTROPORTHENTS ASSOCIATION, SLIGHTLY ERODED
(IeUtEF ) 32, 637 hectares
The soil association consists of shallow, moderately deep
to deep well drained soils occur
on steep o very steep or extremely steep highly dissected
hills and ridges and mountainous
landscape with a slight erosion,
they are developed from various
weathered materials.
The soil association in
general are mainly covered with
primary and secondary growth
forests with a small kaingin areas
planted to coconut, banana fruit
trees and grasses in footslopes
position.
9
Eutropepts are shallow to
moderately deep, moderately to
well drained soils, with color of
brown to dark brown clay or to
clay loam in the A horizon. The
cambic B horizon are extending
only to 50-100 cms. thick from
the surface, are dominantly strong
brown, brown clay to clay loam
with few dark brown mottles.
Consistency is sticky, plastic to
slightly plastic and firm to
slightly firm throughout the profile. The C horizon below are the
subsoil are dark yellowish brown,
brown clay loam with partially
and highly-weathered materials
with few boulders locally present.
Field soil reaction varies from pH
5.6 to 5.8.
Tropudults are deep,
brown, dark, reddish brown, well
drained to moderately well
drained soils with an argillic subsurface horizon extending to 100150 cms. thick and have a base
saturation of 35 percent or less by
NH0Ac. From the surface are
dark reddish brown, red or yellowish red clay to clay loam.
Consistency is sticky to slightly
sticky, plastic, to slightly plastic,
firm to slightly firm. Structure is
moderate to strong fine medium
angular to subangular blocky. Its
soil reaction ranges from 5.0 to
5.4. The C horizon are reddish
yellow to red clay loam with few
to common highly weathered materials.
Troporthents are shallow
to very shallow, moderately welldrained soils with slight and recent development of surface horizon have formed of volcanic origin. Presence of stones and boulders are always present with scatter rock fragments in the surface.
Teknolohiya (SIBAT) Deputy Director and Sustainable Agricultural
Program Coordinator,
Sansen
Ramos Maglinte. MINSOFS members include the Mindanao network
of Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa
Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura
(MASIPAG), one of the oldest national organic agriculture networking on rice, the Local Government
Unit of Dumingag, Zamboanga del
Sur with no less than Mayor Nacianceno M. Pacalioga, Jr. heading
the delegation, the Mindanao Network of the Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community
Empowerment (SEARICE), the
Ozamis City-based Social Enhancing Restoring Values for Integral
Community Empowerment
(SERVICE), the Sustainable Agriculture Ministry of the Diocese of
Cagayan de Oro City, the Camiguin
-based Kalingatungan Upland Sustainable Farming and Stewardship
Association, to cite some of the
members. The BSWM will serve as
the network Secretariat. A pledge of
commitment is being worked out
among the network members to formalize MINSOFS. Priority issues
to undertake focuses on organizing
a forum for the network members
on the Implementing Rules and
Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act
10068 also known as the Organic
Agriculture Act; coming up with
position papers on mining, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs),
and aerial spraying; a publication
on the best practices, and organizing a web-based information sharing system.
Zamboanga Peninsula: All Set for Organic
Fertilizer Production
The Organic Fertilizer
Production Project (OFPP) has
been set in the Zamboanga Peninsula. It provided the Region a total of 119 Small-Scale Composting Facilities (SSCF) which were
distributed to various Farmers Organizations and Cooperatives, Local Government Units, State Colleges and Universities (SCU’s),
Public High Schools, and the Department of Agriculture’s Research Outreach Stations. To fully
utilize the facilities a “Training on
Organic Fertilizer Production
(Vermicomposting Technology)
and Data Gathering and Monitoring,” was conducted at WESMIARC, Sanito, Ipil, Zamboanga
Sibugay on January 25-28, 2011.
The two (2) batches of training
will prepare the project recipients
for the mass production of organic fertilizer through vermiculture and vermicomposting.
Participants of the said training
In his remarks during the
Closing Program, Mr. Carating of
BSWM and Principal Investigator
for the AFACI-ANSOFT, highlighted his very positive outlook
and optimism for MINSOFS even
beyond the two-year AFACI funding and expressed his enthusiasm to
work with the various government
and non-government organizations
to promote sustainable organic
farming in Mindanao.
Rodelio B. Carating
SWAC Coordinator Florence Agustin reports
on the status of the OFPP Project.
The training-workshop
aims to provide beneficiaries with
sufficient knowledge and skills
that would enable them to produce their own fertilizer requirement, and provide them a potential source of additional income.
Mr. Aladino C. Moraca,
Executive Director of the Ecological and Agricultural Development Foundation, Inc. and a technical expert on vermicomposting,
served as the resource speaker in
the training-workshop. He gave a
lecture and a discussion on the
processes on vermiculture and
vermicomposting as well as the
various options in the materials to
be used, and the proper feeding of
the vermin worms. He also shared
the company’s experiences in the
utilization of vermicast and vermin tea in crop production. In
addition, Mr. Moraca lectured and
provided demonstration on the
operation and maintenance of the
shredder machine and tea-brewer
– the equipment components of
the SSCF.
Furthermore, Dr. Oscar O.
Parawan, the Regional Executive
Director of the DA-RFU IX, was
10
overwhelmed by the huge number
of participants which indicated
their interest on the project. In his
message, he reiterated the need to
follow the Vietnam and China’s
good agricultural practices on the
use of tons of organic fertilizer in
their farm areas which provided
them good yields and sustained
production. He likewise encouraged them to adopt and follow the
Agri-Pinoy’s Agricultural Frameworks which include food security, sustainable agriculture, natural resource development and local government capacity building.
Dr. Parawan also mentioned that government programs
come and go. This time the OFPP
should “COME and GO FORWARD.” He urged the Agricultural Technologists to help en-
Demonstration on the operation and
maintenance of shredder.
courage farmers to reduce their
chemical fertilizer utilization, to
stop destruction of the soil, and
convert all wastes into organic
fertilizer. He also thanked the
BSWM for the project and challenged the technologists to do
their best for the country to become self-sufficient in rice once
again.
On the other hand, Dr.
Aida Cariño, the DA-RFU IX,
RTD for Planning Research and
Regulatory enjoined the partici-
pants to use what they learned
from the training to help the agricultural sector achieve its goal of
increasing its present level of
farm production. The OFPP program, she added, is a major strategy to increase crop production in
the Philippines. Organic fertilizer
is essential to improve soil aeration; increase soil flora; prevent
soil compaction; provide the nutrients needed by crops; prevent
soil acidity; improve tilth and soil
texture; improve water holding
capacity of the soil and improve
yield of crops. These can all result
to increased productivity.
Dr. Cariño also challenged
the Agricultural Technologists to
help improve the agricultural sector in tandem with the SCUs, Non
-Government Organizations
(NGO’s), farmers, project beneficiaries and others. And in parting,
she said “Nasa inyo ang lahat ng
susi sa tagumpay.”
Dr. Carlos Mendoza, the
DA’s Regional Executive Director for Region 11 expressed gratitude and satisfaction with the present programs being implemented
by the Department of Agriculture
and the BSWM and was truly
alarmed by the rapid deterioration
of soil condition in the country,
the damage it brought to our environment and the effects of climate
change all over the world.
Dr. Mendoza also stressed
the need to convert if possible all
wastes into organic fertilizer to
bring down the costs of crop production. He added that the OFPP
program of the BSWM
(Vermicomposting Technology)
is a source of alternative livelihood and a source of income for
our small farmers. It will supply
their fertilizer requirement that
will improve soil fertility and the
deteriorating soil condition of the
country. He enjoined the farmers
11
Hands-on on the production of vermi-tea as
foliar spray
to double their efforts to restore
the soil nutrients and improve
their production.
The vermicasts and foliar
fertilizer that will be produced
throughout the country will suffice the organic fertilizer requirement of our millions of small
farmers in the Philippines and
will hopefully rebuild the health
and fertility of the soil for better
crop yield and sustained production.
The farmer cooperators
and other project beneficiaries,
together with the Agricultural
Technologists and other DA
Technical Staff expressed their
sincerest appreciation to DA Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and
BSWM Director Silvino Q. Tejada for the implementation of
organic fertilizer production technology in Zamboanga Peninsula.
The training was coordinated, jointly managed and facilitated by the Region 9 OFPP team
headed by SWAC Coordinator
Florence Agustin, Ednalyn Floresca, Pepito Espineli and Trinidad
Aceron. The invited speakers included Mr. Aladino Moraca from
RU Foundry, Ms. Aurora M. Manalang and Ms. Fe Serrano from
the BSWM.
Aurora M. Manalang/
Edna Lynn Floresca
PHILCAT Participates in the Share Fair and 15th Annual
WOCAT Workshop and Steering Meeting in Kyrgyzstan
As a member of the
World Overview of Conservation
Approaches and Technologies
(WOCAT), the Philippine Conservation Approaches and Technologies (PHILCAT) actively
participated in the Share Fair and
15th Annual WOCAT Workshop
and Steering Meeting held in
Bishkek and Naryn, Kyrgyzstan
on June 21-27, 2011. PHILCAT
was represented by Engr. Samuel
M. Contreras, Division Chief of
the Soil Conservation and Management Division (SMCD) who
presented the progress report and
proposed work plan of PHILCAT
for the next two (2) years.
that there were members which
have already established their online database on sustainable land
management (SLM) using WOCAT platform.
The presentation highlighted the PHILCAT’s achievement since October 2009, which
includes:
While WOCAT provides
methodology and tools on KM and
DS, Engr. Contreras believed that
PHILCAT can optimize their utilization at the country level by establishing our own online database to
link it with WOCAT and developing a compendium of SLM best
practices and success stories for
dissemination to SWC practitioners
and advocates, land users, researchers, farmers and policy and
decision makers.
1. SLM knowledge documentation consists of five (5) technologies and three (3) approaches that have significant
impacts in rural areas;
2. Reconstitution of the PHILCAT membership which is
now composed of 18 institutional members;
3. Orientation and briefing of
new PHILCAT members
about WOCAT database and
its questionnaires (QT, QA
and QM); and
4. Conduct of regular quarterly
WOCAT meetings.
“My participation further
broadened my knowledge and understanding about WOCAT and the
scope of its activities as a global
consortium of national and international institutions working on Soil
and Water Conservation (SWC),”
Engr. Contreras said. He noted
Based on the presentation
of other participants, he also realized that PHILCAT should exert
efforts to strengthen our Knowledge Management (KM) and Decision Support (DS) system on SLM.
“This will support the implementation of the National Acton Plan
(NAP) to combat desertification,
land degradation and drought in
which KM and DS are very important thematic clusters to achieve its
operational objectives,” he added.
Participants of the Share Fair and 15th
Annual WOCAT Workshop and Steering
Meeting in one of their field visits to a
pasture area in Naryn.
12
Engr. Contreras (left) with some of the
participants of the Share Fair with
poster presentation at the background .
In this respect, a project
proposal is currently being prepared by Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) for presentation in the next PHILCAT
meeting before endorsing it to potential funding sources.
The participation of PHILCAT in the WOCAT meeting also
provided Engr. Contreras the opportunity to interact with other participants particularly with our
Southeast Asian counterparts and
explore the possibility of organizing a network within the subregion. More importantly, participants were also given the chance to
visit the countryside of the host
country to talk with farmers and
members of the pasture committee
about herd management, improved
technologies on fodder production,
pasture yield assessment and monitoring and animal health care.
Being blessed with bountiful pasture area, pastoralism is the
dominant source of livelihood in
the countryside of Kyrgyzstan. Indeed, the Share Fair and 15th Annual WOCAT Workshop and
Steering Meeting were successfully
held this year. Kudos to the WOCAT Core Management Group and
Secretariat and to the hospitality of
the people of Kyrgyzstan!
Engr. Samuel M. Contreras
BSWM Launches Updated NAP-DLDD
has undergone a series of inter-island
stakeholders’ consultationworkshops and meetings in 20092010 to ensure a legitimate and participatory process in its revision.
Likewise, a series of island-wide
launching were held in Quezon City,
Mandaue City and Davao City for
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao respectively on March-April 2011.
The Bureau of Soils and
Water Management (BSWM)—the
Philippine Focal Agency of the
United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
launched the updated Philippine
National Action Plan to Combat
Desertification, Land Degradation
and Drought (NAP-DLDD) 20102020 on April 27, 2011 at the
BSWM Convention Hall. Partners
from different government agencies, civil society organizations,
academe and local government
units graced the said event.
Dr. Silvino Q. Tejada,
BSWM Director and UNCCD Focal Point presented the NAPDLDD’s key features, thematic
programs and priority projects for
implementation. He also emphasized that the NAP-DLDD is a policy instrument and convergence
framework in combating desertification and land degradation, minimizing the impacts of drought,
rehabilitation of degraded lands
and in the preservation of threatened ecosystems. In closing, Dir.
Tejada called for a unified action
among stakeholders to ensure the
successful implementation of the
Plan.
As an affirmation of their
support and cooperation for the
adoption and implementation of
the NAP-DLDD, participants
signed the Pledge of Commitment.
Prior to the signing, representatives from the four umbrella agencies (DA, DAR, DENR, DOST)
Cover page of the updated NAP-DLDD
and selected academe and CSO discussed the contributions and benefits
of the implementation of the Plan to
the national and global efforts on
poverty reduction and environmental
sustainability.
Alongside this launching
was a technical workshop for the
organization of the National Technical Coordinating Committee
(NTCC) for the UNCCD, which,
will form part of the Inter-agency
Committee on Desertification, Land
Degradation and Drought (IACDLDD). The creation of the IACDLDD is one of the country’s obligations to the UNCCD and an output
for the DENR-DA-BSWM collaborative project “Strengthening Coordination for Effective Environmental
Management (STREEM).
The NAP-DLDD 2010-2020
In a similar manner, a technical workshop for the organization
of the (Island-wide) Regional Technical Coordinating Committee
(RTCC) for DLDD ensued after the
launching program. DA-RFU XI,
DA-RFU VII and DA-RFU II were
unanimously voted as Chair for Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon correspondingly. The RTCC shall be responsible for the development of
strategies to strengthen partnership
and coordination among stakeholders in their respective regions
and in identifying knowledge gaps
and priority programs relative to the
Plan.
To jump start NAP-DLDD
implementation, a national program
proposal entitled “Addressing Desertification, Land Degradation and
Drought through Sustainable Land
Management (SLM)” is being developed in partnership with the United
Nations Development Programme
(UNDP)-Philippines for possible
funding under the Global Environmental Facility 5 (GEF-5). Moreover, a series of workshops will be
conducted to develop the NAPDLDD Investment Framework Strategy.
In support to the aforementioned activities, Ms. Cristina
Regunay and Ms. Liezel Bobadilla
of the DENR-Foreign-Assisted Projects Office (FASPO) discussed the
mechanism of obtaining financial
assistance from the GEF and the role
of the STREEM project in the mainstreaming of the NAP-DLDD activities into the development programs
of the government, starting with the
DA and the DENR.
Participants during the Technical Workshop and Launching of NAP-DLDD.
13
Sharon de Vera
The Potential of Malalag Watershed
By Veronica Hernandez
The success of farming
communities also largely depend
on the availability of water and soil
resources besides the usual agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizers
and labor.
It is for this reason that the
Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) continues to
undertake surveys and studies on
watershed areas that are also the
key to increasing food production,
especially in far-flung areas like
upland communities. The BSWM
is the agency tasked to survey and
study the watershed areas covered
by the Mindanao Rural Development Project-2 (MRDP-2). The
agency also makes recommendations on how to make farming areas within watershed areas more
productive. “Without healthy watershed areas, it would be completely impossible to achieve optimum food production in a certain
area. Watershed areas that are in
need of rehabilitation can only support farming at the marginal level,”
BSWM Executive Director Silvino
Tejada said.
One of the watershed areas
that the BSWM recently surveyed
is located at Malalag in Davao del
Sur, primarily covering six (6)
barangays: Bagong Bayan, Baybay, Bulacan, Bulton, Ibo and Pito.
In his report to Department
of Agriculture Secretary Proceso J.
Alcala, the primary purpose of surveying and studying the condition
of the Malalag watershed area are
to: identify constraints of the soil
and land resources of the area;
properly develop and utilize the
denuded upland areas of the watershed; identify species suitable for
food security, economic profitability, sustainability and environmental harmony; improve the living condition and quality of life of
upland farmers; stabilize riverbanks using bio-engineering technology; and establish and develop
fishery marine reserves and sanctuary to increase fish yield and provide communities their daily food
requirements and increased income.
The project lasted from
July 2009 to July 2010 and was
undertaken by the BSWM in cooperation with the MRDP-2 of the
Department of Agriculture and the
local government of Malalag, Davao del Sur.
During the Field Survey
Phase of the project, the BSWM
conducted the following activities:
soil and land resources evaluation
in the watershed area; determining
soil mapping units by each soil
characteristics in the area; surveying of the topography of the area to
determine the limitations presented
by slopes, erosion and flooding;
collected 57 soil samples for complete physical, chemical and fertility analyses; and collecting climactic data to analyze the appropriate
cropping pattern for the area.
A task force was later created with the principal aim of formulating a process based on longterm sustainable land use management, evaluation of soil and land
resources development of community-based
sustainable
agroforestry project, riverbank stabilization using bio-engineering technology.
Findings
The findings of the survey
showed that there were nine (9)
soil series, one soil association and
miscellaneous land types in the
watershed area, namely: Sikaba
Series (24 hectares or 0.36%);
14
Buayan Series (27 hectares or
0.40%); Bugko Series (28 hectares
or 0.40%); Glan Series (784 hectares or 11.65%); Matina Series
(236
hectares
or
3.51%);
Penafranda Series (518 hectares or
7.70%); San Manuel Series (676
hectares or 10.05%); Madunga Series (850 hectares or 12.62%);
Malalag Series (1,619 hectares or
24.06%); Madunga-Malalag Association (1,300 hectares or 19.42%);
and Miscellaneous Land types including built-up areas and river
wash gravel (502.98 hectares or
7.51%).
Based on analyses conducted at the BSWM Office in Quezon City, it was found out that
only two (2) soil series, namely
San Manuel and Madunga Series,
with 3% to 8% slopes, were classified as Highly Suitable for durian,
rubber, lanzones, rambutan, coffee,
cacao and banana. This was rated
according to their Land Suitability
Class for specific crops. The total
area suitable for those crops has a
total area of 730 hectares or
10.85% of the total area surveyed.
Other soil series such as
Penaranda, Madunga and Malalag
clay loam with 18% to 30% slope,
and Buayan, Bugko, Sikaba and
Association of Madunnga-Malalag
clay loam with 30% to 50% slope
were rated Marginally Suitable for
or Not Suitable for rice, corn,
durian, rubber, lanzones, rambutan,
banana and mango. The reasons
cited were limitations presented by
flooding, drainage, soil depth,
stoniness, slope erosion, soil texture and alkalinity, high iron content and low inherent fertility.
Meanwhile, the soil series
Madunga and Malalag clay loam
with 8% to 18% slope were rated
BSWM Holds National Consultation and Book Launching of the Soil and
Water Resources RD/E Agenda 2011 to 2016
National Consultation
“ The only way we can increase harvest is to enhance the soil or increase the land area for production. We are
faced with the challenge to find ways on how to enhance the soil environment.”
Such was the message that
Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano
shared to the participants of the
National Consultation on the Soil
and Water Resources Research and
Development Extension Agenda
2011 to 2016 in support to the implementation of the Philippine National Action Plan to Combat Desertification, Land Degradation and
Drought (NAP-DLDD), which was
held at the Bureau of Soils and
Water Management (BSWM) Convention Hall on April 26, 2011.
The National Consultation
was the culminating activity following a series of consultations in
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao attended by participants involved in
agricultural research, development
and extension. It was spearheaded
by Dr. Edna Samar, Soil and Water
Resources
Research
Division
(SWRRD) chief. Its objectives focused on identifying and prioritizing researchable areas in the field
of soil and water resources management.
During the event, Asst. Director Wilfredo E. Cabezon discussed the Philippine NAP-DLDD
( FY 2010 to 2020), while the draft
of the Soil and Water Resources
and
Development
/Extension
Agenda 2011 to 2016 was presented by Dr. Samar.
An open forum followed
the presentations, with Dr. Lauro
G. Hernandez as the moderator.
Participants actively shared their
views and gave significant contributions on funding strategies and
how to effectively implement and
Dir. Tejada with the BSWM chiefs & staffs, & participants from Luzon, Visayas & Mindanao during the National Consultation Workshop.
collaborate with other agencies on
specific researches. It was suggested that a comprehensive criteria be done to provide linkages
among the Department of Agriculture’s Priority programs, NEDA’s
Medium Term Development Plan
and PCARRD’s R & D Agenda.
Book Launching
As part of the Bureau’s
celebration of its 60th Anniversary,
the SWRRD headed by its Division
Chief, Dr. Edna Samar, officially
launched the Soil and Water Resources Research and Development/Extension(SWRRD/E)
Dir. Tejada and Asst. Dir. Solsoloy during
the Book Launching.
15
Agenda 2011-2016. The ceremonial ribbon-cutting was represented
by the BSWM Director, Dr. Silvino Q. Tejada and Assistant Director Teodoro S. Solsoloy of the
Bureau of Agricultural Research
(BAR) on June 3, 2011 at the
BSWM Convention Hall.
The Bureau, as one of its
mandates under the Executive Order 116, is the main agency of the
Department of Agriculture that is
tasked to formulate measures and
guidelines and to provide technical
assistance for the effective soil,
land and water resources utilization. In addition, among the crop
land areas in the country, the
BSWM is also the technical head
agency expected to provide expertise and assistance in managing the
conservation of soil and water resources.
Apparently, the current
condition of soil and water resources in the country is critical
with its rapid deterioration which
mainly contributes to the depletion
of agricultural production. The
SWRRD/E Agenda 2011-2016 is a
significant tool to address the
pressing concern on soil and water
resources as it focuses on conserving and enhancing these natural
resources for the development of
sustainable, modernized and competitive agricultural and fishery
industries. Since soil and water
resources are the foundation of agricultural productivity, the document also aims to address the technical, institutional, socio-economic
and environmental policy concerns
that affect the conservation, utilization and management of such resources. The document is supplemental to the Research, Development and Extension Agenda and
Programs (RDEAP) of the DABAR.
Moreover, our country
commitment as the focal point
agency to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD) was also considered
through the formulation of the
SWRRD/E Agenda 2011-2016 as it
complements with the updated
Philippine NAP-DLDD (20102020). The former is a planning
tool that will set the direction of
soil/land and water resources re-
search in the Philippines for the
next five (5) years while the latter
is a land and water-centered action
plan and it serves as a comprehensive and well-focused policy instrument and provide the platform
of convergence of actions of the
four (4) umbrella agencies in the
country, namely, the Department of
Agriculture (DA), the Department
of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the
Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) and the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST), in combating land
degradation, rehabilitating degraded lands and preserving threatened ecosystems with a view to
contribute in alleviating poverty in
degraded, seasonally arid and
drought vulnerable areas in the
country. Together, both documents
move towards the mainstreaming
of sustainable land management in
the national plans and programs for
agricultural development and poverty alleviation.
To make the SWRRD/E
Agenda 2011-2016 suitable to the
country’s condition, the SWRRD
spearheaded the conduct of islandwide consultation workshops to
establish the inter-agency coordination and commitment among
the total watershed area surveyed.
The Potential of Malalag…
as Moderately Suitable for rubber,
durian, lanzones, banana, rambutan, mango, coffee and cacao.
Other soil series such as Glan,
Matina, Bugko and Penaranda
were also rated Moderately Suitable for rice and corn because of
limitations caused by flooding, soil
drainage, water holding capacity
and slight erosion hazard. The soil
units falling under the aforementioned classifications has a total
area of 2,786 hectares or 41.41% of
Furthermore, the soil series
such as Agustin, Banhigan and Camansa were classified as Moderately Suitable for farming, because
of limitations presented by flooding, moderate to severe erosion,
shallow to moderate soil depth and
moderate soil fertility. Total area
covered by this classification is
834 hectares or15.12%.
The challenges for soils
classified as Moderately Suitable
for farming or planting of certain
16
regional stakeholders and also to
collect their inputs in terms of issues and concerns on soil and water resources. Such workshops
were scheduled at Luzon on February 2, 2011; and at Visayas and
Mindanao on April 5 and 7, respectively. The consolidated outputs of
the said workshops were presented
in the National Consultation Workshop that was held on April 26,
2011. The activity was participated in by various key stakeholders from Luzon, Visayas, and
Mindanao to provide assistance in
the validation of the said output.
A total of 200 copies of the
SWRRD/E Agenda 2011-2016 will
be distributed nationwide among
government and private research
institutions, academes, and individual researchers on soil and water
resources. “This is a document of
hope that this nation be good steward of Philippine soil and water
resources for agriculture. It is a
product of creative minds and generous hearts guided by the living
God who created the soil and water
as basic resources for mankind,”
Dr. Samar, SWRRD Chief said.
For public information, the document will also be available at the
BSWM Client Center and website.
Dr. Edna Samar/Jenny Anne Perladoand Jacqueline Rojales
crops can be easily corrected with
the management measures and conservation plan that will be formulated for the watershed area.
“With the extensive findings on the Malalag watershed
area, the BSWM can make recommendations on how to rehabilitate
the watershed area. The survey
alone required extensive field work
but we at the BSWM are happy
that we have extensive data or findings to start with to make the Malalag watershed a high productive
farming area,” Tejada said.
Recognizing the Vital Role of
the Trees:
BSWM Celebrates SOIL CONSERVATION MONTH 2011 and
NATIONAL YEAR OF THE FOREST
with a Tree Planting Activity
By Dr. Gavino Isagani P. Urriza
Recognizing the trees play a vital role in
everything: from mitigating global warming and
climate change, to provide wood, medicines and
livelihoods for people worldwide, the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Soils and Water
Management (DA-BSWM) thru the leadership of
Dr. Silvino Q. Tejada, BSWM Director, celebrates Soil Conservation Month and World Day
with the aim to combat desertification with a tree
planting activity held at Mt. Balagbag, Brgy. San
Isidro, San Jose Del Monte City-Macabod, Rodriguez, Rizal Area last June 17, 2011.
The activity was in support
to this year’s declaration of National Year of the Forests. The tree
plating activity intends to raise
awareness on the value of this important resource and to encourage
everybody to support a tree planting program.
Back in 2007, former Department of Agriculture Secretary
Hon. Arthur C. Yap signed Administrative Order (AO) No. 16, Series
of 2007 declaring the month of
June as “Soil Conservation
Month.”
The said AO recognized
that soil and water resources of the
country are vital to the sustainability of agricultural development
programs and that conservation,
development, and management of
soil and water resources shall ensure a legacy of food security for
the Filipino people; and the advocacy and other activities shall be
undertaken by all DA Bureaus, DA
Regional Field Units (RFU’s), and
attached Agencies, to promote the
conservation, development, and
management of soil and water re-
Participants of the Tree Planting Activity
sources; and all activities relevant
to the “Soil Conservation Month”
shall be spearheaded and coordinated by the BSWM.
Since then, every year the
BSWM spearheaded various activities including among other a tree
planting activity.
“By declaring month of
June as the Soil Conservation
Month, the DA-BSWM has created
an important platform to educate
the Filipino people in general and
by engaging in a yearly tree planting activity. It raises awareness
about the great value of trees and
the extreme social, economic and
environmental costs of losing the
trees,” Engr. Samuel M. Contreras,
Chief of the Soil Conservation
Management Division (SCMD) of
the BSWM noted.
“Enrich our Forests and Conserve our Soils”
This is the main theme of
the Soil Conservation Month
which is a yearly celebration of the
BSWM. The tree planting activity
is also in support to the greening
program of the DA. This years’
celebration is the fruit of a strong
collaboration between the BSWM
thru the leadership of Dir. Tejada
and its partners: the Local government of San Jose Del Monte City,
Bulacan headed by Honorable
Mayor Reynaldo S. San Pedro;
Community Environment Natural
Resource Office (CENRO) of the
Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) and
members of Mt. Balagbag MultiPurpose Cooperative.
To ensure success in this
continuing program, the Honorable
Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Proceso J. Alcala, thru a
memorandum, instructed all heads
of attached Agencies and Corporations, Bureaus, Regional Field
Units and DA proper to undertake
relevant activities that will support
this year’s theme “Enrich our Forests and Conserve our Soils,”
which is also aligned to the declaration of year 2011 as the National
Year of the Forests.
17
Engr. Contreras noted that
it is very meaningful that this
year’s celebration coincided with
the International Year of Forests
which concluded with the adoption
of a new strategic plan containing
targets on significantly reducing,
by 2020, the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, and
sustainably managing forestry to
ensure biodiversity conservation.
In his speech during the
tree planting activity, Engr.
Contreras, noted that various parties including the political arena
lately is showing great interest in
forests and the clamor for tree
planting activities and watershed
rehabilitation has been rising, and
stressed that interest of the various
groups should be translated into
action.
Forests in the Philippines
in 1920 cover about 63% (19 M
ha) of total land area, in 1934 (17
M ha), in 1969 (10 M ha) which is
just 33% of the total land area, and
in 2004 (7 M Ha) which is about
24% of the total land area
(Philippine Biodiversity Assessment by DENR as updated by
FMB and NAMRIA and as cited
by Dir. Marlo D. Mendoza, Director FMB-DENR in his presentation
to the Climate Change commission
in 2010).
The significant decreased in the forest area clearly
shows the state of the Philippine
forest that suggest the need for dramatic action and measures.
“We have to make sure that
BSWM activities should gear towards resources conservation including watershed rehabilitation
which includes tree planting activities and promotion of Soil Conservation Guided Farm (SCGF) to
address the issue of climate change
and the impending desertification,”
Dir. Tejada instructed.
Furthermore, Ms. Flor G.
San Felipe, Officer-In-Charge, City
Agriculturist of San Jose Del
Monte, Bulacan in her speech during the occasion noted that every
one of us, has our physical, economic and spiritual health tied to
the health of our ecosystems and
the tree planting activity is a mean
of renewing that relationship between the trees and the people.
Engr. Thelma Bautista,
Chief, CENRO City of San Jose
Engr. Samuel M. Contreras (left), Chief of SCMD in action.
18
Del Monte, Bulacan also stressed
out that trees represent many things
to many people including aesthetic
and cultural dimensions that are, in
many ways, priceless. “Trees are
the very core of the nation economy, whose real value has all too
often been neglected in national
accounts of profit and loss,” she
added.
The BSWM is responding
to numerous environmental and
social concerns by improving sustainability of resource use, including the use of organic materials as
embodied in the Organic Fertilizer
Production Program (OFPP) and
Balanced Fertilization Strategies.
“What we need is to emphasize the
link between people and trees, and
the paybacks that can accrue when
the trees are managed by local people in sustainable and innovative
ways,” said Mr. Dominciano
Ramos, Chief of the Agricultural
Land Management Evaluation Division (ALMED) of the BSWM.
Chairman
Romulo
Ludriguito of Mt. Balabag MultiPurpose Cooperative, Brgy. San
Isidro, City of San Jose Del Monte
clearly emphasized in his address
during the tree planting activity,
that the value of the tree planting
activity is an opportunity to explore the value of the trees, the environment, as well as the value of
the environmental services that
these resources give us. He added
that too often trees and the services
they provide are taken for granted
and seen as resources that are
unlimited.
Quoting from earlier writeup Dr. Tejada thinks that it will be
key advocacy efforts to get Filipinos to plant trees. He said once,
“When everything fails, breathe-because breathing is basic in life.”
In breathing, we need oxygen, an
oxygen comes from the trees.
Without trees, there would be no
life on this planet!”
The Magic of Worms
By Chelo Negado-Maderazo
Leyte Provincial Agriculture Officer
The mere sight of worms be
it an army worms, cut worm, tape
worm, pin worm or even ring worm
produces allergic reactions to people.
Who like worms, anyway? Engr.
Dina Pitao is an exception. As project in-charge of the Leyte Provincial
Agriculture Offices’ Vermicomposting Project, she disclosed that she
does not only sees, touches and
holds worms, but she takes good
care of them like pets.
By worms, she is referring
to the African Night Crawler type
inhibiting the twenty-bed vermicomposts located at the back of the office. “These worms have been
proven to be the most suitable for
vermicomposting with their significant roles in rejuvenating the soil as
well as in solid waste management,”
she added.
Inspired by the booming
vermicomposting projects in Negros
after attending a training and observation tour in 2006 with Mayor Loreto Yu of Alangalang Leyte, then
Provincial Agriculturist, and 3rd District Board Member Rowil Batan,
the two (2) of them conceived the
project with the goals to shape lives
and create a trend in the farming industry through vermicomposting.
”We took one step at a time
by starting out with two (2) production beds and manually preparing the
substrate materials of madre de cacao, rice straw and ipil-ipil as worm
food,” Pitao stressed. Soon, the first
vermicast and Bokashi were produced literally through hard labor.
Before 2010 ended, Governor Carlos
Jericho Petilla provided the project
with a 10 HP mechanical shredder to
“We are now producing a monthly average of 250 kg organic fertil‐
izer. We cannot cope with this demand dur‐
ing planting season be‐
cause not only farmers are utilizing this, orna‐
mental and vegetable growers also do!” African Night Crawlers (left) and Vermi compost beds
take over the time-consuming chopping activities. This also signalled
the construction of more production
beds to generate additional organic
fertilizers which were little by little
gaining recognition through word of
mouth.
“From the start, this project
runs on a self-liquidating scheme
where our supplies, materials and
laborers are paid from the proceeds
of the casts, bokashi and the worms
as well. “We sell the worms at
Php500/kg, vermicast at Php8/kg
and bokashi at Php5/kg,” Pitao enthused. Vermicasts are the wastes
excreted by the worms while bokashi
is the organic fertilizer made from
vermicast, carbonized rice hull,
chicken dung and coco coir dust.
Based on the laboratory analysis
conducted by the Bureau of Soils
and Water Management (BSWM),
the bokashi formulated by the project contains significant amount of
nitrogen and traces of the potassium
copper, calcium, magnesium, zinc,
sodium, manganese, iron and organic carbon which are essential in
soil fertility.
While maintaining the vermicomposting and organic fertilizer
have likewise been trained on vermicomposting to exend technical assistance to farmers within their respective areas of coverage.
19
In addition, vermicomposting is one of the technology components implemented in the Income
Creating Opportunities through
Technology Program (ICOT-P), a
priority undertaking of the Provincial Government of Leyte which provides 4th year high school students
who cannot pursue college education
with technological knowledge and
skills in modern agribusiness and
entrepreneurship. The program is
now implemented in almost all of
the national high schools in the province.
With OIC Provincial Agriculturist Rogelio Portula now taking
the helm, the project is thriving with
more and more trained farmers succeeding in the business. “We are
now producing a monthly average of
250 kg organic fertilizer. We cannot
cope with this demand during planting season because not only farmers
are utilizing this, ornamental and
vegetable growers also do. We are
thankful that Engr. Arman Arcamo
of BSWM is closely coordinating
with us through their CommunityBased Composting Facility. The vermicomposting trend in Leyte is
spreading like wildfire as well as the
use of organic fertilizers,” he added.
Indeed, the Leyte Provincial Agricultural Offices’ Vermicomposting
Project has hit its mark of shaping
lives with style.
INFERNO
FIRE ON THE THIRD FLOOR
By Edgar Santos
May 6, 2011--It was an ordinary Friday morning at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM)…. or so it seems.
Engr. Rafael Monte of the Laboratory Services Division went out of
his room to check some office and
laboratory equipment. As he was
walking along the hallway of the
third floor, he noticed smoke coming out from a half closed door. He
opened it and in a flash smoke engulfed him. Fire! And it’s spreading fast. It would not be an ordinary day after all.
nando called the BFP, two fire
trucks and one Special Rescue Unit
(SRU) with all their sirens wailing
entered the BSWM gates. It was a
moment to behold. Help has arrived. A colorful display of blinkers and uniform, of gears and
equipment, of alert and determined
faces of people, men and women
ready to place their own safety on
the line to put out their nemesis
and save lives.
They
immediately
approached the makeshift command-
whiteboard. All movement of personnel
working under different
groups of the Disaster Management
Committee were closely monitored.
Four (4) minutes from the
alarm, the rescue teams from the
divisions escorted their injured coemployees out of the building to the
collection area. Some were slightly
injured others were bleeding or with
broken limbs - Josefina Estrada,
Felicidad Zamora, Daniel Portillo,
Farley Conde and Oscar Carpio.
They were immediately treated at
the medical station located at the
Retiree’s Garden. Ms. Digna Allag
who sustained serious injuries was
immediately carried to a waiting
BSWM vehicle and rushed to the
nearby East Avenue Medical Center.
He rushed to the nearest
emergency box and pushed the red
fire-alarm button. In an instant all
alarms on all floors were on and
immediately started a chain of
events. It was 9:10am.
Upon hearing the alarm,
Ms. Elizabeth Hernando, Records
Unit Head called the Bureau of Fire
Protection (BFP) of Quezon City.
The elevators were shut-down by
Mr. Manuel Natividad of the
Maintenance Unit and the guards
hurriedly unlocked all exit doors
including the perimeter gates.
Within two (2) minutes the
entire BSWM edifice is emptied of
people, important documents and
equipment. In single file, all personnel went out of pre-designated exit
doors and stairways. They calmly
regrouped themselves by floors and
by divisions at the evacuation area
located in front of the building.
There they deposited their salvaged
belongings and made an instant accounting of their respective members. They immediately submitted
to the Incident Records Officer a
complete list of their names and
those they suspect of having been
trapped in the building.
Two minutes after Ms. Her-
Fireman rescues a victim.
center inside the flagpole area and
reported their number and placed
themselves under the disposal of the
Incident Commander (IC), Asst.
Director, Wilfredo E. Cabezon (Dir.
Tejada was on an urgent high-level
mission), who was wearing a vest
and internationally recognized
white colored hard hat. Being the
IC, he was calmly orchestrating
the entire activity. He was obviously on top of the situation.
Ms. Nancy De Sagun recorded every detail of the incident
by the minute as they unfold.
Every problem encountered and
every decision and instruction
made were jotted down on a
20
A minute after they arrived,
the SRU recovered the body of one
fatality from the third floor. Another minute they rescued Eugene
Badiyon, a Janitorial worker who
has to be rappelled from 4th floor to
the ground to avoid the deadly heat
and suffocating smoke.
The
BSWM personnel and crowd who
are gathered within the vicinity
were awed at the skills most especially of the women personnel of
the SRU.
At 9:22 am, 12-minute after
the alarm, the BFP declared a fireout. It was a fire drill and it was
over. If the handshakes and congratulatory remarks from the BFP
is an indication, it was a huge suc(Continued on page 29)
Homage to Tatang Romy
By Sharon de Vera
It was a day filled with
laughter, tears and wonderful memories that will forever be etched in the
hearts of those who came to pay
homage to one of the pillars of the
Soil Survey Division – Mr. Raymundo G. Galanta, popularly known
as “Tatang Romy.”
On the 14th day of June
2011, the family, old and new
friends and colleagues of Tatang
Romy gathered at the SSD office for
his 65th birthday and retirement celebration. The festivity started with a
thanksgiving prayer by Ms. Tess
Aviso and singing of the birthday
song. Guests were treated to a delectable feast of food and drinks afterward.
Dir. Silvino Q. Tejada gave
a stirring message of gratitude for
Tatang Romy’s forty two-unselfish
years of service to the BSWM.
“Tatang Romy is a man of few words
yet, a man of profound knowledge in
his field, once he speaks,” he
quipped. “I wish you all the best and
don’t grow old as you start a new
chapter in your life, that is, the (Apo)
stolic life,” he added. In closing, Dir.
Tejada, assisted by Ms. Nancy De
Sagun, OIC-Personnel Officer
awarded a BSWM ring and a Plaque
of Recognition for his exemplary
work ethic and invaluable contributions to the Bureau. Together with
Dr. Redentor Gatus, former Regional
Executive Director of the DA-RFU
III and the Celebrant’s brother-inlaw, the Director enjoined the Galanta Family and guests to a toast.
In between heartwarming
testimonials given by Tatang
Romy’s only son, Ludger, Ms.
Clarita Bacatio, Mr. Dominciano
Ramos Jr., and Engr. Samuel
Contreras, Chief of the SSD,
ALMED and SCMD respectively,
and other selected colleagues who
closely worked with him over the
years, guests were given the chance
Dir. Tejada and BSWM friends and colleagues give
a toast for Tatang Romy (top) and pose with Asst.
Dir. Cabezon during his birthday and retirement
celebration last July 14, 2011.
to bring home a limited
edition of “tatang’s coffee
mug.” More gift giving
followed. Mr. Jose Manguerra, President of the
BSWM Employee’s Association handed him a cash
gift as a token of appreciation for his service and
support to the Association.
As a tradition at the SSD,
staff presented him a rocking chair symbolizing tranquility or as one author
puts it, “goodbye tension,
hello pension!”
A 20-minute video
presentation that chronicles
the life of Tatang Romy,
giving emphasis on who he
is - a loving husband, a
doting father and grandfather, a true friend and a
dedicated public servant in the eyes of the people
who were part of his journey was shown.
21
Tatang Romy is highly esteemed in the fields of geomorphology, soil fertility assessment, land
resource evaluation and land use
mapping. He was a key player in the
establishment of the Soil Series of
the Philippines and Soil Monoliths,
development of the Soil Series
Maps, Philippine Land and Soils
Management Atlas, and Strategic
Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zone (SAFDZ) Maps and the
promotion of the Balance Fertilization Strategy (BFS).
He started his career at the
then Bureau of Soils as Soil Technologist of the Soil Survey Division
in 1969 carrying out detailed soil
survey - braving all odds to deliver
more than what was required of him.
In 1982, he joined the ALMED and
was involved in the Land Resource
Evaluation Project (LREP) conducted from the northern tip of Luzon down to the southernmost part
of Mindanao. He rejoined the SSD
family in 1987 where, he continued
to harness and share his knowledge
and expertise through his involvements in various local and foreignassisted projects. He was promoted
Supervising Agriculturist and Chief
of the Soil Productivity Rating Section in 2005 and had served as Officer-in-charge of the Division.
Throughout his career, he has demonstrated commendable character as
a leader and as a team player.
Tatang Romy obtained his
BS Agriculture degree at the then
Gregorio Araneta University Foundation
news brief
SWIP Creates Livelihood Project
A Joint Project of BSWM and BFAR in Support to Food Self-Sufficiency
Program of the Department of Agriculture
By Marcelo Dayo
Fish Culture in the existing water impounding reservoir has been
long time practiced in most if not, in all Small Water Impounding Projects
(SWIPs) nationwide. Some are raised in cages but most are grown out free
range. These initiatives are sometimes initiated by individual organization
but in most cases, are joint venture by agencies like Bureau of Fisheries
and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Local Government Units (LGUs), SWIP
Farmer Association, private organization and private individuals.
With the increasing demand for fish protein and the declining productivity of our communal bodies of water and marine areas, it is best to
tap the full potentials of SWIPs for aquaculture, in addition to its multiple
functions and derived benefits like irrigation, flood control, soil conservation, wildlife habitat, local tourism, vegetation improvement, ground water
recharge, etc.
With this demand, Secretary Proceso J. Alcala of the Department of
Agriculture (DA), immediately convenes EXECOM and one of his major
instructions is to forge collaboration under the Agri Pinoy Framework. The
idea of having a project on “Tilapia Culture in Existing Small Water Impounding Project” came in with the objectives of renewing collaboration
between the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), BFAR,
LGUs both Provincial and Municipal levels and SWIP Irrigators Association to support the DA’s Food Self-Sufficiency Program.
The said project was launched last April 12, 2011 and it was highlighted with the MOA signing and Tilapia stocking ceremony in Liwan
Norte SWIP, Enrile, Cagayan. The event was participated in by government officials namely: DA Assistant Secretary Salvador S. Salacup as Keynote Speaker, Gov. Alvaro T. Antonio of Cagayan Province, Cong. Randolf S. Ting of 3rd District of Cagayan, Exec. Dir. Silvino Q. Tejada of
BSWM, Dir. Jovita P. Ayson of BFAR 02, RTD Dr. Val Perdido of DARegional Field Unit (RFU) II, Mayor Robert B. Turingan of Enrile Cagayan. The total attendance was around 600 people from different sectors
like SWIP beneficiaries, barangay officials, employees from BFAR and
DA-RFU II, Provincial and Municipal employees, invited guests from
other government offices, media practitioners, agriculture officials from
other provinces in Region II, farmer leaders and farmers from the
neighboring barangays.
Tilapia stocking lead by Asec Salacup, Gov.
Antonio and Cong. Ting.
Dir.Vince Tejada in a conversation with
Gov. Antonio and Mayor Turingan. At the
background is Liwan Norte SWIP with 20
hectares pond area.
Asec Salacup leads the MOA signing.
The Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) stipulates how to institutionalize activities to ensure sustained aquaculture development, proper
technology application, good supervision, judicious use of impounded water, and develop cohesiveness and orderly relationships among stakeholders. The same scheme will be simulated in other regions nationwide.
Moreover, the BFAR shall assess feasibility of SWIPs and provide
tilapia fingerlings for stock enhancement and aquaculture, work with LGU
22
BSWM Exec. Director Silvino Q. Tejada
presents the project overview.
WRMD Undertakes Massive Capability Building Activities
for SSIP Beneficiaries
In addition to the Small
Scale Irrigation Project (SSIP)
projects funded under the regular
program of the BSWM, a 2KRassisted
project
entitled
“Rehabilitation of Small
Scale Irrigation Projects for
Upland Productivity and
Resources Sustainability” is
being implemented by the Water
Resources Management Division
(WRMD).
The Water Use Management Section of the WRMD is
responsible for the organization,
strengthening and training of
farmer beneficiaries on leadership
and technical skills on the operation and maintenance of the
SWIP Creates...
for the execution of the project,
monitors, evaluates and implements corrective measures, retrieves and terminates the projects
when necessary. On the other hand,
the BSWM shall request BFAR to
write the assessment and stocking
of Tilapia fingerlings for the SWIP
Projects and other communal bodies of water, provides the lists and
locations of SWIPs suitable for
stock enhancement and aquaculture
and assists BFAR in the conduct of
training, monitoring and project
turn-over to the target community.
The Provincial Local Government Unit (PLGU) shall provide
immediate and appropriate action
on problems that may impede project implementation, ensure continuous implementation from the
first cycle onward, provides other
SSIPs. The said training intends
to provide them knowledge and
skills on systematic and organized understanding of the institution and on the technical aspect of
the project to make it more sustainable upon completion and
turn-over.
As of June 2011, a total of
13 projects under the 2KR were
organized and assisted for registration at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Likewise, a
total of 573 and 319 farmers were
trained on Basic Leadership
Skills Training (BLST) and Technical Skills Training (TST), re-
necessary inputs, monitors progress and submits in due time
the regular monthly reports,
damage report if any, and terminal report to BFAR.
The Municipal Local
Government Unit (MLGU)
shall assign trained technicians
to the project, provides immediate and appropriate action on
problem that may impede program implementation, monitors
progress and submit in due time
the regular monthly reports,
damaged report if any and terminal reports to PLGU.
And finally, the SWIP
Irrigators Association or Cooperators shall safeguard the project and be responsible for the
maintenance and operation including sampling and monitoring, shoulders other expenses
23
spectively.
On the regular programs
of the WRMD, seven (7) Irrigators’ Associations (IAs) were organized,
strengthened,
and
trained on BLST and operation
and maintenance of the SSIPs
with a total of 130 farmer beneficiaries trained.
The organic Institutional
Development Officers are being
assisted by four (4) competent
contractuals to perform the
ground work assessment and facilitate the training activities.
Dolores Mae Gicana-Reonal
contingent to the success of the
project and report any abnormalities affecting the productions and
growth of stocks, submits production data to BFAR/PLGU/MLGU
every after production cycle, continues the succeeding operations
by using the proceeds of the first
cycle to maintain its sustainability,
and promotes the technology to
other fishfarmers.
This BSWM-BFAR Joint
Project will be implemented nationwide to cater to about 436
SWIPs and 22,282 SFRs to benefit
about 19,050 farmers and 22,282
farmer beneficiaries, respectively.
This project is expected to bear
good result, generate community
livelihood, promotes better health,
better environment, and ultimately
attain the Department of Agriculture’s GOAL of FOOD SOVEREIGNTY in the years ahead.
news brief
SSD Holds Planning Workshop
Central to efficient and
successful implementation of programs and projects is careful planning. Careful planning entails direction setting - defining the targets
and identifying the resource needs
to carry out the plan of work. Thus,
to ensure that the Soil Survey Division’s programs are in line with the
BSWM’s thrusts and resources are
ably managed, a two-day Planning
Workshop was held on March 2324, 2011 at Makiling Highlands,
Calamba, Laguna. The workshop
also served as the venue to present
the new Office Performance
Evaluation System (OPES) and to
familiarize the staff with the current developments in the field of
soil survey and classification particularly, on soil taxonomic classification system.
Mr. Rodelio Carating,
Technical Assistant to the Director
and Head of the Planning and
Monitoring Group delivered the
inspirational message on behalf of
Director Silvino Q. Tejada. He
lauded the efforts of the SSD family headed by Ms. Clarita Bacatio,
Officer-In-Charge, in organizing
the workshop and stressed that for
2011, aside from its regular activities, the Division will play a vital
role in the implementation of two
new special projects of the BSWM.
These include the FAO-funded
project “National Capacity Building for Land Degradation Assessment and Climate Change Adaptation” and the Springer Publishing
collaborative-project on “Soils of
the Philippines.”
Before the workshop
proper, Ms. Bacatio provided an
overview about the objectives and
expected outputs of the activity.
She emphasized the need to evaluate regularly, the individual and the
overall performance of the Division vis-à-vis its mandate. This
was followed by the presentation
of the 2010 accomplishments and
2011 targets by Ms. Teresita Retamar and, workshop on individual
target setting. Aside from Mr.
Carating, Ms. Eva Dacumos, OICPlanning Officer, Ms. Janet Operario, Head of the Monitoring
Unit, Ms. Nancy De Sagun, OICPersonnel Officer, Ms. Teresita
Aviso, BAC Staff and Mr. Rodrigo
Homage to Tatang Romy…
majoring in Soil Science and Master of Science (geology and geomorphology) degree at the International Institute for Aerial Survey
Science (ITC) in the Netherlands.
He was born and raised in
Galimuyod, Ilocos Sur and the
sixth child in a brood of nine. He is
married to a BSWM colleague, Ms.
Lourdes Galanta nee: Lourdes Santillan and blessed with a son and
two grandsons.
The party wrapped up with
a bang as Asst. Dir. Wilfredo Cabezon led the singing of the
BSWM’s message of love and
friendship encapsulated in a song
to the tune of Hey Jude – “Hey,
Tang, don’t you feel sad. You were
meant to go out and go on. Remember to let us into your heart. For
well you know we love you so.”
Before the grand day, a pre
-retirement party was held on
March 23, 2011 at Calamba, Laguna.
We will miss you, Tatang
Romy! God bless you!
24
Participants of the SSD Workshop.
Ablaza, Accountant III, acted as
resource persons during the open
forum. The key issues tackled were
accomplishment reporting process,
frequency and format, staff assignment in relation to OPES, financial
planning and capacity-building
needs.
On the second day, Ms.
Bacatio and Mr. Oscar Costelo presented the new Soil Taxonomic
Classification System and the
Modified System of Soil Description respectively. Ms. Bacatio
highlighted that one of the most
significant changes in the 11th edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy
is the addition of the suborders
Wassents and Wassists for
subaquaeous Entisols and Histosols. On the other hand, Mr.
Costelo discussed the revised Soil
Description Form (SDF). The SDF
will facilitate documentation process during field surveys and the
updating of the soil information
database system of the Bureau.
In closing, Ms. Bacatio
thanked all the participants and
pointed out the importance of active participation and cooperation
of all staff in the achievement of
SSD’s goals so that; it could be at
par with other technical divisions
in terms of performance and delivery of quality services.
Best Paper Awardees of the BSWM 2011 R & D
Evaluation
The
research paper
“Effectiveness of Indigenous Microorganisms and Fermented Plant
and Fish Extracts as Potential Biopesticides/Biofertilizers
for Selected Crops” won the BSWM R &
D Best Paper Award during the
Review and Evaluation Workshop
of the agency which was held last
April 1 at the BSWM Convention
Hall. The R & D workshop is an
annual activity of the Soil and Water Resources Research Division
(SWRRD), which aims to evaluate
on-going and completed researches
of the institution.
Jacqueline S. Rojales presented the on-going study which
was scrutinized by a distinguished
panel of evaluators; namely Dr.
Cesar Mamaril, consultant of Phil-
rice; Dr. Rodolfo Ilao, Director of
ARMD, PCARRD; Dr. Purisima
Juico, Associate Professor, CLSU;
and Mr. Rolando Labios and Engr.
Ric Castro of BAR. Co-authors of
the study were the presentor’s colleagues in the Soil Biology Section
– Marcelina J. Palis, Amy O. Yambot, Alma J. Gonzales and Jaime I.
Ladanga.
The 2nd Best Paper Award
went to the study “CommunityManaged Rainwater Harvesting in
Nueva Viscaya: Assessment of the
Degradation, Impacts and Options
Under Changing Climate” by
Edna D. Samar, Henry Cacayan,
Arnaldo Alvarez and Silvino Q.
Tejada; while the 3rd Best Paper
Award went to “ Evaluation of the
Tolerance of Mungbean Mutants to
Acid Soil Conditions” by Edna D.
Samar, Roosbelt P. Creencia, Irvin
K. Samalca, Alfonso O. Grafia,
Bayani V. Villanueva and Silvino
Q. Tejada. The two papers were
respectively presented by its principal author, Dr. Edna D. Samar.
Also presented in the said
workshop was a paper on “Impacts
of Organic Matter Application on
Contour Farming in Ultisol” by
Roosbelt P. Creencia, Bayani V.
Villanueva and Edna D. Samar.
Certificates of recognition
were given to authors of the winning papers during the BSWM 60th
Anniversary Celebration last June
3, 2011.
Jacqueline S. Rojales
BSWM Holds FAO-LADA Inception Workshop
The Bureau of Soils and
Water Management (BSWM)
holds Inception Workshop on
Food and Agriculture Organization-Land Degradation Assessment (FAO-LADA) after the approval of the Technical Cooperation Program with FAO, entitled
National Capability Building for
Philippine Land Degradation Assessment and Climate Change
Adaptation which aims to integrate the Philippine land degradation data with the global land
degradation data, on April 18-20,
2011 at Fontana Leisure Park,
Clark, Pampanga.
The said workshop was
participated in by FAO-LADA
staffs who will conduct training
to the BSWM staffs on LADA
manual. The participation is
hinged on the agency’s mandate
and data ownership relating to
prevention, monitoring, and mitigation of land degradation which
encompasses sub-components of
soil,
water,
vegetation/
biodiversity, climate and socioeconomics.
This two-day workshop
was joined by nearly fifty (50)
participants from various agencies of the government.
The output will be the initial version of the Philippine
Land Use System Map. The
25
LADA program is just one of the
workshop series of capability
building out of ten (10) workshops which includes the proposed field validations tours to
come up with a set of land degradation indicators in harmony with
the global data.
The LADA project is a
major effort of the Republic of
the Philippines to assess the extent of land degradation in the
country as part of our fulfilment
of our obligation under the
United Nations Convention to
combat desertification.
Aurora M. Manalang
news brief
Team members during the opening
ceremony of the Sportsfest
BSWM populace pose during the 60th Anniversary Kick-Off
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony led by (from
left to right) Asst. Dir. Wilfredo Cabezon, Sec. Proceso J. Alcala and Dir.
Silvino Q. Tejada and BSWM staffs
BSWM Performers
Guest Violinist John Lesaca (left) and
the final two contestants of “Idol of
Idols” (right)
Photos courtesy of TIDS
Barrio Fiesta at BSWM
patio joined by DA Sec.
Proceso J. Alcala
BSWM celebrates its 60th Anniversary highlighted with Sportsfestival, Barrio Fiesta, Awarding of Outstanding Employees, Ribbon Cutting and BSWM Photo Exhibit, Festival of Dances and the Search for the
“Idol of Idols” singing contest last June 3.
26
BSWM Holds
Sportsfest
Sportsfest 2011 was initiated
as a prelude activity to the BSWM’s
60th Anniversary Celebration. The
Sportsfest officially commenced last
March 7 highlighted by the parade of
colors, and presentation of muses.
Assistant Director Wilfredo E. Cabezon led the Oath of Sportsmanship
while Director Silvino Q. Tejada
gave the ceremonial shot.
The events included volleyball, badminton, table tennis, darts,
chess and shoot out, and the competition lasted until April 23. The
competing teams are represented by
the following – the RED Team composed of the Laboratory Services
Division and the Soil Survey Division; the BLUE Team composed of
the Water Resources Management
Division and Office of the Director;
the YELLOW Team composed of
the Cartographic Operations Division and Soil Conservation Management Division; and, the GREEN
Team composed of the Agricultural
Land Management Evaluation and
Soil and Water Resources Research
Division, including the Tanay and
Bulacan Research Stations.
Since sport activities is encouraged among employees to promote a healthy lifestyle, the Sportsfest is also an opportune time for
employees to take time out from
their regular tasks and build camaraderie between and among peers.
Throughout the event, healthy competition transpired between and
among the players. The BLUE Team
garnered the highest team score; followed by the YELLOW and RED
Team in the second place; the
GREEN Team landed at the third
place. The event winners are –
BLUE Team for Volleyball , Darts,
Badminton, Shootout while RED
Team ranked first in Table Tennis
and Chess.
Ma. Angelita Esguerra
BSWM 60th Anniversary Awardees
In line with the celebration of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) 60th Anniversary, another batch of employees had been
named and awarded for their outstanding performance and invaluable contribution to the bureau last June 2, 2011 held at BSWM Convention Hall.
The Special Citations Award includes, Award of Recognition to
Cecilia B. Orlanes for Supervisory Technical; Roosebelt P. Creencia, Mamerto F. Matinez and Leo Retamar for Non-Supervisory Technical. For
Individual Categories, the awardees were as follows: Elmer Borre, Engr.
Samuel Contreras, Sonia Salguero, Rodelio B. Carating, Elsie Balagtas,
Roberto Mabuti, Aurora M. Manalang, Feliciana Santiago, and Teodorico
Erni. Meanwhile, the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural
Sciences (JIRCAS) and Water Resources Management Division (WRMD),
obtained the Group Category award while Karen Salandanan and Yolanda
Abrina vied the Award of Excellence.
The Outstanding Employees awardees were Marcelina J. Palis, for
Supervisory (Technical); Nancy de Sagun, Supervisory (Administrative
Support); Jacqueline S. Rojales and Engr. Diosdado Manalus, NonSupervisory (Technical); and Ma. Angelita G. Esguerra and Elisa N.
Ladanga grabbed the award for Non-Supervisory (Administrative Support).
The Retirees and the Loyalty Awardees of the year were also recognized
and were given tokens of loyalty.
The awardees were carefully selected by the Program on Awards
and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) Committee headed by Dr.
Edna Samar, Soil and Water Resources and Research Development
(SWRRD) Division Chief and BSWM Director Silvino Q. Tejada, CESO
III.
Ginalyn S. Rivera
Awardees pose during the Awarding Ceremony last June 2, 2011.
Photos courtesy of TIDS
27
news brief
School Tours at BSWM A series of school tours
was conducted on March 2011 in
line with the 60th Anniversary celebration of Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM). Students from Tandang Sora National
High School and F. Halili Agricultural School (two batches) came to
enjoy the half-day tour initiated by
the Committee on Tours, Trainings
and Seminars headed by Ms.
Marcelina Palis.
The tour consist of a video
presentation introducing the Bureau, particularly its mandate, technologies in conserving and enhancing water and soil fertility, promoted technologies (i.e. production
of mushroom and Trichoderma)
and role in the Department of Agriculture towards achieving food security/sufficiency and production
of organic products and fertilizers.
Part of the tour is a visit in
the Client Center to familiarize
with the soil types through the
monoliths available for viewing
and the products sold in the center
(i.e.
Trichoderma, Mushrooms,
Reports, CDs, Maps). Students also
visited the Integrated Soil Research
Information System (ISRIS) section and was introduced with the
high technology equipment used in
the production of maps utilized by
students and researchers.
A visit at the Laboratory
Services Division excites the students since they were able to acquaint with the tools and equipment
used in the analysis for soil, fertilizer, water and plant tissue. Laboratory staffs also showed the visitors
how to culture Trichoderma harzianum as well as gave a lecture on
its important role in hastening de-
composition of wastes. Lastly, the
students visited the Biological Section and Greenhouse of the Research Division located at the
fourth floor of BSWM. Many students appreciated the technology
promoted by BSWM Researchers
particularly the culture and production of mushrooms. Visitors were
amazed on how easily mushroom is
cultured and crops are grown in the
BSWM vicinity.
Ms. Palis was assisted by
her Co-chair Ms. Shanky Cachopero and members Ms. Jacky Rojales, Ms. Angie Marcia, Ms. Meng
Pangco and Mr. Felix Albano in the
conduct of this activity. Schools
participated in the tour were given
a set of IEC materials, BSWM
bookmarks and certificate of appreciation.
Sharon Elvi Marie S. Cachopero
The BSWM Frontline Information Desk Officers (FIDO’s) lecture and tour students at the Client Center, Laboratory and Research
Division and BSWM Greenhouse.
28
The BSWM Client Center
On June 17, 2009, the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) Client Center (CC)
was officially opened in response
to Republic Act No. 9485 or the
Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) of
2007 and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Memorandum Circular No. 12 Series of 2008. The
ARTA aims to improve efficiency
in the delivery of government service to the public by reducing bureaucratic red tape, preventing graft
and corruption, and providing penalties thereof. On the other hand,
the CSC MC No. 12 Series of 2008
prompted the government agencies
on the implementation of the Act
and its Rules as well as the creation
and execution of the Citizen’s
Charter. Thus, necessitates the establishment of the Client’s Center
which will serve as a one-stop shop
of the frontline services of the
BSWM. It is the reception area in
the bureau where all the clients can
ask assistance on what, where,
when and how to avail the products
and services offered by the BSWM.
Being a central hub of BSWM information, technologies, goods and
services, Frontline Information
Desk Officers (FIDOs) are assigned
at the Client Center for its smooth
facilitation and operation.
As of the first five (5)
months of this year, the Client Center already distributed a total of
4,096 IEC materials (bulletins, brochures, etc.) and served 1,221 customers. Most of the clients are students, NTECLUM applicants and
researchers who are requesting for
technical assistance on projects and
programs related to soil and water
conservation technologies and
other products and services offered
by BSWM. The known services
offered by BSWM and served at
the Client Center include the Soil,
Shanky Cachopero orients and assists clients at BSWM Client Center.
Water, Fertilizer and Plant Tissue
Analysis which contributed 78% in
the total sales and payments to
BSWM based on the transactions
made at the Center from January to
May this year. Other products
available include soil survey reports (book and on CD), various
maps (blue print and digitized),
Soil Test Kits (STK), Rapid Soil
Test (RST), Trichoderma harzianum, legume inoculants, mushroom (fruiting bags, mother grain
spawn, pure culture), as well as
BSWM souvenirs (Book, t-shirts,
etc). Prices of all the services and
products offered by the Center are
available in the Client Center catalogue.
Since its establishment on
2009, the Client Center is still developing strategies and improving
its operation system as well as noting the suggestions given by its
clients/BSWM employees in order
to provide better service to its patrons. All BSWM employees who
are interested to be part of the Client Center and willing to serve at
least once a day every month are
very much welcome.
Sharon Elvi Marie S. Cachopero
29
INFERNO…
cess. The people from Malacanang
Communications Group were also
proud to have the entire
activity on their camera tapes.
The purpose of the drill has
been achieved. Every BSWM personnel has now been trained to prevent, control and most especially
evacuate a fire disaster area. Not
only would the knowledge become
handy in an office fire but it would
surely be an edge in case it’s real at
home or in the neighborhood. A
skill that would definitely save
lives.
One of these days the firealarms would be sounded again. We
hope and pray it would be just that –
a fire-drill.
To all the men and women
of the Disaster Management Committee, the BFP Personnel, the entire BSWM Staff, the awardwinning performances of the actors
and actresses – Ms. Digna Allag
who was so convincing she herself
almost believed she would really be
sent to East Avenue Medical Center
– Dios ti agngina.
Oceania Node Launches GSM.net Project;
East Asia Node Meets
The GlobalSoilMap.net project, a global initiative which aims to produce the world’s first digital
soil map was introduced in a four-day workshop held
on February 07-10, 2011 at the IPB Internal Convention Center, Bogor, Indonesia, with the theme
“GSM: Progressing the New Perspective on Soil
Information in Oceania”. The workshop was a collaborative undertaking of the GSM Oceania Node
led by Dr. Neil McKenzie of CSIRO Australia, the
Indonesian Center for Agricultural Land Resources
Research and Development (ICALRD) and the Indonesian Agency of Agricultural Research. and Development (IAARD).
BSWM Representative, Sharon de Vera (2nd row, 5th from left) flanked
by other participants of the GSWM.net Oceania Node Workshop.
For a start, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific
Nation and Indonesia gave an overview of the state
of the soil resource information in their respective
country. Dr. Ganlin Zhang of China, Node Leader
presented on behalf of East Asia. To further understand the project concept and the process it entails,
Dr. Alex McBratney and Dr. Budiman Minasny of
the University of Sydney demonstrated the scientific
procedure in constructing and populating the
GSM.net grid using the Oceania example.
convene scientists working on soil resource management and mapping from the Oceania Node - Australia, New Zealand, The Pacific and Indonesia along
with some members of the East Asia Node – China,
Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines
to strengthen partnership and discuss areas of collaboration that would contribute to this significant
endeavor within the two regions.
The GSM.net project is supported by the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Generally, the workshop objective was to
Sharon de Vera
SOILSCAPE
January-June 2011, Vol. 2 No. 1
Editor-in-Chief:
Aurora M. Manalang
Associate Editor:
Ginalyn S. Rivera
Advisers:
Rodelio B. Carating
Asst. Dir. Wilfredo E. Cabezon
Director Silvino Q. Tejada
BUREAU OF SOILS AND WATER MANAGEMENT
Soils Research Development Center
Elliptical Road corner Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
30

First and Second Quarter Issue - Bureau of Soils and Water

Transcription

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