balita-dot-ph,August 3, 2010 11:03 am

DINALUPIHAN, Bataan, Aug. 2 – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has recently launched the soil conservation guided farm in a mountain village in this town to create awareness on the continuing degradation of the uplands and slopping lands in the country.

Joel Rudinas, DA Undersecretary for Field Operations, explained that the guided farm project serves as an important avenue to increase awareness of the community on the continuing dilapidation process on the country’s natural resources.

Dinalupihan Mayor Joel Payumo lauded the project launched in Barangay Payangan that used to be inhabited by Aetas but has become home to many lowlanders mostly from the Bicol region.

Dinalupihan is the only landlocked town in Bataan.

Rudinas said that the guided farms or slopping technology also provides upland farmers the best farming practices without hastening land degradation.

He said that 2/3 of the total land area in the country or about 20 million hectares are uplands or slopping lands.

The undersecretary said that eight million hectares of these lands can be used for agriculture but there is a need for management technique.

He expressed concern that with the shortage of agricultural lands in the lowland, more and more farmers are going to the uplands.

"What is disturbing is that they came from the lowland bringing along with them the technologies not suited in the ecosystem or environment in the upland. That’s why there are many problems that are happening like low productivity and environmental disasters such as landslides, excess water run off and destruction of our lands due to incorrect way of using uplands for agriculture,” Rudinas said.

He said that land degradation has become a serious problem not only in the Philippines but in many countries that have land and water conflicts because of the threat of climate change.

He said that the common source of water for agriculture and power is water run offs from the uplands brought by the rains that has to be preserved and protected.

With the launching of soil conservation guided farm in barangay Payangan over the weekend, Rudinas, DA Region 3 Executive Director Redentor Gatus, Bureau of Soils and Water Management Director Silvino Tejada, provincial agriculturist Imelda Inieto and students of the Bataan Peninsula State University also planted seedlings of trees.

They were assisted by 47 members of the Payangan Indigenous Farmers Cooperative in planting tree seedlings in the 3.2 hectare-slopping land.

Inieto said the area will serve as show window for the project which will soon be increased to more than 42 hectares.

Aside from forest trees, also presently planted in the Payangan project are bananas, pineapple and root crops like sweet potato.

Grasses and branches of trees are piled like dikes along rows of pineapples to serve as water barrier.
[(PNA)LAP/zst/EBE/ps]

Source:DA launches soil conservation guided farm in Bataan