THE Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) will spend $6.67 million (P311.76 million) to address land-degradation problem in the country.
In a statement the BSWM said the project would be partly funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) ($870,000 million) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The UNDP will back the project called Implementation of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Practices to Address Land Degredation and Mitigate Effects of Drought with $500,000 million.
BSWM Laboratory Services Division Chief Gina P. Nilo said the rest of the money would come from the local implementing agencies, such as the BSWM, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and local government units.
Nilo said the project will first be carried out in Bukidnon and Leyte, two of the provinces in the country with the worst cases of land decay.
She explained there are two causes of land degradation: Soil erosion and the decline of soil fertility. “Bukidnon is an example of the former, while Leyte experiences the latter,” Nilo told reporters during the formal launching and ceremonial signing of the project.
With this project, the GEF and BSWM will demonstrate practices and introduce technologies that promote SLM to the local farmers of Bukidnon and Leyte, according to documents provided by the BSWM, an agency under the Department of Agriculture.
Farmers will be able to learn and adopt various methods of soil conservation farming and water resources conservation that will improve their crop production and income, according to the documents.
Nilo said the agencies will also push for organic farming and planting of high value crops, specifically in Leyte, to replenish the nutrients needed by the soil in the area.
Aside from SLM practices, the project will also provide livelihood activities for the small-scale farmers, she said.
Nilo said the project will run from 2015 to 2018 and will later be implemented in other provinces, as well. “We are thinking of other provinces with the same bio-physical conditions. We are considering soil condition, landscape and climate. Almost all other provinces surrounding Bukidnon and Leyte experience the same problems of land degradation,” she said.