CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

14

E0 or No Apparent Erosion accounts for 24% of the total

land area and occurs typically in broad alluvial
plains, minor alluvial plains, residual terraces,
plateaus, foot slope and plains which are usually
found in Region III. These areas are classified as
prime agricultural lands.

E1 or Slight Erosion includes the formation of incipient

erosion manifested by sheets, rills and tiny
incisions along trails and creeks (1 rill/100 m).
Regions IV, V and VII have more than 35% of
their respective areas under this class.

E2 or Moderate Erosion accounts for 28% of the countrys

soil erosion area or approximately 8.5 M ha are
classified as marginal lands. Dominance of rock
outcrops and 80% of parent materials exposed
with patches of thin veneer of grass and an
intensity of 74gullies/100 m distance across
slope and landslides providing special features
around steep slopes.

E3 or Severe Erosion visible on steep, hilly or mountainous

areas with slopes above 30%, commonly seen in
areas destroyed by excessive logging and
deforestation. Soil under this class is shallow and
dry attributed to scouring and destructive impact
of heavy rainfall.

Table 1.1 shows the extent of soil erosion in the Philippines. It

summarize the data based on the regions. The data shows the
total soil loss, the soil loss due to flooding, river erosion etc.

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
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Table 1.1 Extent of soi erosion in the Philippines.

Conservation practice in the Philippines to control soil erosion includes

farming practices. Few of the practices are
Sloping Agricultural Technology (SALT) developed by the
Mindanao Baptist Rural Lice Center. Basically the technology is a
packaged of soil conservation and food production, integrating soil
conservation and measures in one setting.

Fig 1.5. Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT)

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

16

Geotextiles. Studies are also conducted on the use of Geotextiles

in controlling soil erosion. It is found out that Rice straw mat and
rice straw net are effective in controlling soil erosion. With the
abundance of agricultural waste products such as coco coir and rice
straw, there is an opportunity to turn this waste product into an
economic importance.
Drainage
Drainage practices date back in thousand of years. Some notable
example of drainage projects are the polders in Holland and the fens in
England. Drainage is recognized as essential for permanent crops.
Drainage removes sodicity and salinity, which were deposited in time.
It also maintains the water level solving salinity. Drainage systems can
be a surface or a subsurface system.
Drainage is important in providing a root zone environment to facilitate
plant growth and optimize crop production. Drainage is synonymous to
irrigation, It is said that you cannot have a good irrigation without good
drainage. However, technologies for drainage are often neglected due
to environmental concerns. Irrigation and Drainage technology usually
entails cost not only on the establishment but as well as on the
maintenance.
Sceumann (2002) list seven good reason for drainange.
1. Drainage protect the resource base for food production. Irrigation
and Drainage significantly contributed to 60% and 40%
production of rice and wheat respectively. Reports also indicates
that 0.5 to 1.0 million hectares are lost every year for food
production due to soil deterioration caused by waterlogging and
salinity.
2. Drainage sustains and increases yields and rural incomes.
Increase in agricultural productivity increases income. The
effects of saline and waterlogged land on farm economics are
detrimental because they cause land to be removed from
production and often result in significant yield depressions.
Saline and waterlogged conditions severely limit crop choice,
diversification, and intensification, adversely affect crop
germination and yields, and can make soils difficult to work.

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DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
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CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

17

3. Drainage protects irrigation investment. Irrigation has been the

largest recipient of public agricultural investment in the
developing world. The gross area served by irrigation increased
from 95 million hectares in 1940 to 250 million hectares in 1989
(WR1 1994).
4. Drainage infrastructure serves rural and urban residents as well
as industry. In many countries, off-farm drainage infrastructure is
also used by rural settlements, cities, and industry to dispose of
wastewater - a benefit rarely considered in planning drainage
projects.
5. Drainage protects human lives and assets against flooding and
high groundwater levels. Well-drained areas and drainage
infrastructure provide a buffer (retention area) for torrential
rainfall. Agricultural land no longer has the capacity to cope with
the high, and highly intense, rainfall. Tremendous losses of
human lives and damage to assets occur periodically through
uncontrolled floods.
6. Drainage services improve health conditions. The FAO (1997)
estimates that five million people die annually from water-related
diseases, i.e. water-related vector-borne diseases (malaria:
schistosomiasis. or bilharzasis; Guinea worm infection; lymphatic
filariasis, or elephantiasis): water-borne diseases that are of a
gastro-intestinal nature (diarrhea), caused by fecal matter, and
orally transmitted, as well as diseases related to the
transmission of pesticides and pesticide residues in drainage
water (non-communicable).
7. Drainage and protection of water quality. Irrigated agriculture
inevitably produces emissions, and in many countries agriculture
is the largest polluter of water bodies as a result of unsustainable
land management practices. Even if water is used efficiently,
irrigation uses entail a leaching fraction which contains salt.
Water quality problems increase with repeated reuse, disposal in
closed basins, and injections and percolation into deep wells,
where groundwater is contaminated.

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Student
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DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
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CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

18

Irrigation
The introductions of sprinkler irrigations, drip irrigation combined with
other soil and water conservation practices in irrigation were adopted
by the Philippines.
The Irrigation system of the Philippines is managed by the National
Irrigation Administration (NIA). In 2014, NIA reported a total estimated
area of irrigable land of 3,019,609 hectares. This is based on the 3%
slope criteria. Of this area 56.67% is already developed or a total of
1,708,063 hectares with a remaining potential area to be developed of
1,311,546 ha.
Other Government Agencies involved in Irrigations include DA, DAR,
DENR and DOST.
The Department of Agriculture projects in Irrigation through its BSWM
includes:
Small Water Impounding Projects (SWIP)
Small Diversion Dam (SDD)
Shallow Tube Wells (STW) and
Small Farm Reservoir (SFR).
Labiano (2013) summarized the water management system in the
Philippines as follows:

Achievements in irrigation development level of 50% and

irrigated cropping intensity of 146%.
Shift in irrigation operations modality from typical (NIA as
the irrigation steward) to atypical (IAs as the irrigation
stewards) is slow so needing a strong shove.
Thrust for full rice self-sufficiency end of 2013 exemplifies the
predominance of irrigation development as an intervention to
staple food production.

Labiano also cited the Emerging Needs in Irrigation

Threat of global climate change is becoming more serious

manifested by several high casualty high-destruction torrents
and floods that already hit the country.

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

19

Figure 6. Dam as part of Irrigation Project in the

Philippines

Impact of rationalization plan implementation to NIA is

structure downsizing, distinguished by the reduction in
personnel complement from 11,414 to 3,819.

Sternness in water allocation competition triggered by steady

growth and rising demands of the various society sectors,
makes water supply for agriculture diminishing.

One of the biggest irrigation project of the Philippines is the Southern

Philippines Irrigation Sector Project. The project was rated by ADB as
relevant to Design and Formulation, lees effective with respect to Achieving
the Project Outcome, less efficient in Resource Use in Achieving Outcomes
and Outputs, less like for sustainability and moderate impact to the socioeconomic of the community. Other evaluations include satisfactory in the
government for the performance as borrowers as well as the lending
institution, with an overall rating of partly successful (ADB 2013). It shows
that engineering design formulations are relevant to the needs and much of
the problem is on the implementation and on its impact to the community.
Flood Control and Water Supply
Flooding has cause thousand of lives in the Philippines for the last decade.
The current 3 major floods are one of the major flood in the whole world.
Sendong in 2011 ranks 71 claims 1268 lives, the Southern Leyte mud slide
rank 72 claims 1,144 lives and Ondor in 2009 claims 244 lives.

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

20

In terms of flood Philippines rank 4th as flood prone country in Asia.

Water supply and distribution in the Philippines are undertaken by
o Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Services
(MWSS) servicing 62.28% of Metro Manila
o the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) and its
water district offices for other cities and municipalities,
servicing 58 percent of the total urban population
within its area of responsibility; and
o the departments of Interior and Local Government
(DILG) and Public Works and Highway (DPWH) and
local governments which manage community water
systems (usually involving point sources and piped
systems with communal faucets), servicing 86.85
percent of the countrys rural population.
The regulation water supply is regulated by the following agencies.
o The Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) formulates policies for the
enforcement of environmental protection and pollution
control regulations. It is primarily responsible for the
preservation of watershed areas and ensures water
quality with respect to rivers, streams and other
sources of water.
o The Department of Health (DOH) is responsible for
drinking water quality regulation and supervision of
general sanitation activities.
Conservation efforts are focused on solving the problems of
Watershed degradation, Groundwater depletion and saline intrusion
and water quality
The water supply and distribution have some area of concerns such as
o Non-systematic approach to water resources
management.
o Very low priority given to sanitation and sewerage
o Inadequate financial support to water, sanitation and
sewerage programmes
o Unreliable water supply databases

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

21

o Inadequate capacity building in the water supply

sector, including operations and Maintenance
o Poor community participation and management,
especially among women in the water sanitation and
sewerage sector
Various Project Implemented by the Government aligned to Soil and
Water Conservation
1. Promotion of Water Saving Technology: AlternateWetting and
Drying (AWD) in Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation
System (UPRIIS) and Groundwater Irrigation Project in Tarlac;
2. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)Technical
Cooperation Program I and II: Promotion of Water Saving
Technology;
3. Sustainable System of Irrigated Agriculture;
4. AgrikalikasanModified Rapid Composting Program;
5. National Coconut Productivity Program;
6. Hydrobiological Assessment of Lake Lanao;
7. Water Quality Monitoring Focusing on Industrial Wastewater, River
Systems and Coastlines;
8. Organicbased Agriculture Tamang Abono Project;
9. Mercury Assessment Project;
10. Site Specific Nutrient Management for Corn Areas;
11. Communitybased Watershed Management Approach in Improving
Livelihood Opportunities in Selected Areas in the Philippines;
12. Construction of Doppler Radar Project;
13. Establishment of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS);
14. Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP)APL II (World
Bankfunded);
15. Infrastructure for Rural Productivity Enhancement Sector (InFRES)
Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded;
16. Support to Emergency and Livelihood Assistance Program; and
17. Construction and Installation of Flood Forecasting and Early
Warning System for Maragusan, Compostela Valley.

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Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

22

References:
ADB 2013, Philippines: Southern Philippines Irrigation Sector
Project. ADB Validation Report. December 2013
Aguinaldo, T.G. Agulto, I.C., Gavino, H.F., Javellonar, R.P., Sicat,
E.V. and Taylan, V.T. Rice Straw Geotextile As Ground Cover
For Soil Erosion Mitigation. Journal of Energy Technologies
and Policy. Vol.3, No.11, 2013
Atienza, RN., Hapdal, J. and Morga, E. Legislative and Institutional
Aspects of Soil and Water Conservation: The Philippine
Experience.\
BSWM 2010. The Updated Philippine National Action Plan to
Combat Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought
(DLDD) FY 2010-2020. January 2010
Elliot, W.J., Fangmeier, D.D., Huffman, R.L., and Workman, S.R.
Soil and Water Conservation Engineering. 7 th Edition. Pp 17.
Dayrit, H. The Philippine Formulation of Water Vision: From Vision
to Action A synthesis of Experience in Southeast Asia. The
FAO-ESACP pilot project in national water visions. Bangkok
Thailand 2001.
. FAO, ISBN:974-88406-3-8 pp 43-70
Dutta, D., Herath S. Trend of Floods in Asia and Flood Risk
Management with integrated Water Basin. January 2004.
Labiano, B.S. Agricultural Water Management Systems in the
Philippines. Current Status and Policy Directions. Food and
Fertilizer
Technology
Center.
March
4,
2014.
(url:http://www.fftc.agnet.org/files/lib_articles/
20140304162637/eb%20651.pdf)
Scheumann, W and C. Freisem. The role of drainage for sustainable
agriculture. Journal of Applied Irrigation Science, Vol. 37. No
1 /2002, pp. 33 61
Internet Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_(ethic) (retrieved October
1, 5, 2015
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/12-051.htm
http://www.fftc.agnet.org/files/ap_policy/77/77_1.pdf

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER 1

Conservation and the Environment

INTRODUCTION
Soil and water conservation engineering is the application of
engineering and biological principles the solution of soil and water
management problems. Conservation implies utilization without waste,
while maintaining a continuous profitable level of crop production. It also
aims to improve its environmental quality.
Philippines has a total land area of 30 million hectare with 15.9 million
hectares are reserved areas intended for forest lands, mineral land and
national parks the biggest of which is the Mt. Apo National Park. Fourteen
million are considered alienable and disposable for economic development
and six million hectares are titled.
Philippines, being an archipelago have varied topography. Following are
areas vulnerable to desertification.

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Student
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Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
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Steep slopes These are areas which are steeply

dissected with slopes more than 30% distributed as
follows:
o 3050% slope 6,293,362 ha
o 51% slope and up 2,609,900 ha

Poor drainage These are areas that are water

logged or flooded for significant part of the year.
These lands are associated with the Fluvaquents
(12,800 ha) and Hydraquents (78,080 ha) that are
integrated with the Tropaquents or about 0.30% of
the total land area.

Coarse textures These are areas which have

coarse textures with less than 18% clay and more
than 65% sand or have gravel stones, boulders or
rock outcrops in the surface layers or at the
surface. These soils belong to the Tropopsamments
along with other skeletal phases of other great soil
groups that extend to about 482,849 ha or about
1.61% of the total land area.

Heavy cracking clays These are areas which have

30% or more clay to at least 50 centimeter (cm)
from the surface after the upper 20 cm of soil are
mixed, cracks at least 1 cm wide at 50 cm depth
and high bulk density between the cracks. These
are Vertisols classified as Uderts and Usterts that
comprise a total land area of about 765,388 ha or
almost 2.6% of the total land area.

Severe fertility limitations These are land areas

that exhibit deficiencies in major and minor plant
nutrients when cultivated. These marginal lands
belong to the Ultisols, which are formed on
undulating to rolling plateau, hills and mountain
areas that extend to 12,067,994 ha and the Oxisols,
which are found in Palawan comprising about
26,320 ha.

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Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Land with saline and sodic soil limitations Saline

and sodic soils are mainly situated in coastal areas
and extend to almost 400,000 ha or about 1.33% of
the total land area.

To combat desertification and land degradation and mitigate the effect of

drought, the Senate of the Philippines ratified The Philippine National
Action Plan (NAP) to Combat Desertification, Land Degradation and
Drought (2010-2020; Combat 3Ds). The big challenge that the NAP
20102020 intends to address is the approximately 5.2 M (million) hectares
(or 17% of the countrys total land area) of severely eroded area and the
27.3% vulnerable area to drought, alternating with floods and typhoons on
a yearly basis.

Figure 1.1 UNCCD Framework for fighting Desertification, Land

Degradation and Povery

The NAP serves as a blue print for the government in implements

programs and projects related to combating the Desertification, Land
Degradation and Drought. It is a is a working document for the synergy
among the three Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) on
biodiversity, climate change and land degradation at the country level, and
the convergence of actions among national government agencies (NGAs),
local government units (LGUs), and civil society organizations (CSOs) to
contribute to hunger mitigation and poverty reduction, and environmental
sustainability.

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Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

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Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
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CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Since conservation are inter-related with climate change and biodiversity,

synergy of efforts of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD) with United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD)
and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) is presented.

1.1 Impact of Conservation Practices on the Environment

Engineers in Soil and Water Conservation Engineering
Engineers in the field of soil and water conservation engineering
should have a vast knowledge on the atmosphere, plant, and soil
sciences. Agricultural engineering/ Agricultural and bio-system
engineers is the most fitted engineer for this job. An agricultural and
bio-system engineering are equipped with knowledge on plants,
soils, biology and other related sciences in addition to their
engineering skills.
Engineers should also be knowledgeable on the policies of the state
well as local ordinances. They should also be knowledgeable of
new technologies especially on the application of Geographical
Information System (GIS), soil surveys, weather predictions using
different models. An application of computer to solve problems is a
must to analyze and solve problems in a little time.
In the Philippines, engineers working in soil and water conservation
are mostly working in the government particularly on the Bureau of
Soil and Water Management of the Department of Agriculture (DA),
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Department of
Science and Technology (NAP, 2010).
Non-Government
Organizations are also active the conservation effort
Conservation Ethics
Conservation is primarily driven because of the increasing
population and the continued depletion of soil and water. In
agriculture, soil erosion not only causes pollution but the loss of
lands itself decreases farm production.
Its primary focus is
maintaining the ability of soil and water in providing the basic needs
of humanity.

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Conservation ethics is best expressed using the three R + 1. Which

is Reduce, Reuse and Recycle + Rethink. Engineers should find
ways to developed new technologies in conserving Soil and water.
Decade of Significant Events in Agriculture and Environment
Change as follows:
Pre1960s - Era of traditional extensive agriculture; healthy
watershed; low population density; many intact
natural forest trees (high biodiversity)
19611980 - Decade of policy conflict on natural resource
management and infrastructure development:
Massive construction of dams for irrigation
systems, power and domestic uses (almost
all prime irrigable lands provided with
irrigation system at the end of the decade);
and
Massive watershed deforestation (logging)
for the generation of cash resources.
19811990

- Decade of environmental degradation

characterized by:
Massive soil degradation in the lowlands
caused by the excessive use of urea,
resulting into unprecedented soil mining and
humaninduced micronutrient deficiency,
and stagnation of food crops yield.;
Increase use of marginal lands left behind by
logging operations;
Increase area of idle grasslands replacing
natural forests; and
Loss in biodiversity caused by destruction of
natural habitat.

19911996 - Decade of irrational land use conversion to

urban development and industrialization:
Deterioration of river systems and aquifers;
Rapid deterioration of irrigation systems
established in the last decade; and
Net importation of practically all food
products despite the availability of human
and natural resources.
RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Figure 1.2. Forest cover of the Phillipines (1900-2010)

1997 - Onwards - Philippine agriculture and environment in

transition development and self review:

Passage of Agriculture and Fishery

Modernization Law which advocate for legal
onwards
establishment
of
Strategic
Development Zones which fully recognized:
Scarcity of land and financial resources as
the major constraint to modernizing
agriculture and fishery sectors; and
Switch to planning focus on nonagribased
livelihood
option
for
marginalized
communities.

1.2 Environmental Regulations in the Philippines.

Conservation practices should be coupled with environmental
regulations. The Soil and Water Conservation management is
under the Bureau of Soil and Water Management under the
Department of Agriculture. The Bureau was created through
Republic Act 622, an act creating the Bureau of Soil Conservation,
defining its power, duties and functions

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
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Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
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CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Regulations in the Philippines are primarily promulgated by the

legislative branch of the government. From 1987 2007 (the 8 th the
13th Congress of the Philippines), congressed passed a total of more
than 1570 laws of which 15 can be considered as conservation
legislations of national significance. The distribution of which is
shown in Figure 2. The figure shows that 4.7% of the laws
promulgated are related to Environment and Natural Resources.

Figure 1.3. Distribution of Laws (8th to 13th Congress, Philippines)

(Adopted from Atienza, 2007)

Some of important regulations acted by congress in the in the Philippines

include;

Republic Act 9729 or the Climate Change Act of 2009. This Act was
adapted in response member of United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification.

Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act or Republic Act 8435;

The law has broad based provisions covering 1) production and
marketing support services; 2) human resource development; 3)
research development and extension; 4) rural nonfarm
employment; 5) trade and fiscal incentives; and 6) general
provisions. This law provides the delineation of the Strategic
Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones (SAFDZ) within the
Network of Protected Areas for Agriculture and Agroindustrial
Development (NPAAAD) to ensure that lands are efficiently utilized
for food and nonfood production, and agroindustrialization.

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AE 815. Advanced Soil and
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CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

The Local Government Code of 1991, Republic Act 7160. It provides

that the Local Government Units, shall in conformity with existing
laws, continue to prepare their respective comprehensive land use
plans and enacted through zoning ordinances which shall be the
primary and dominant bases for the future use of land resources.

National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) or Republic

Act 7586. It recognizes the critical importance of protecting and
maintaining the natural biological and physical diversities of the
environment notably on areas with biological unique features to
sustain human life and development, as well as plant and animal
life.

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law or Republic Act 6657. This

law recognized that the welfare of the landless farmers and farm
workers should receive the highest consideration to promote social
justice and to move the nation toward sound rural development and
industrialization, and the establishment of owner cultivatorship of
economicsized farms as the basis of the Philippine agriculture. It
also provides a more equitable distribution and ownership of land,
with due regard to the rights of landowners to just compensation
and to the ecological needs of the nation, which will be undertaken
to provide farmers and farm workers with the opportunity to enhance
their dignity and improve the quality of their lives through greater
productivity of agricultural lands.

Water Code of the Philippines. The 1976 National Water Code

establishes the basic principles and framework related to the
ownership, appropriation, utilization, exploitation, development,
control, conservation and protection of water resources to achieve
the optimum development and rational utilization of the water
resource.

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
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Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Other regulations were

Clean Water Act of the Philippines;

National Land Use Bill;

Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines or Presidential Decree

705;

The Balanced Fertilization Strategy (BFS), Presidential

Proclamation 1071;

CARPer Law or Republic Act 9700;

Indigenous Peoples Rights Act or Republic Act 8371;

Department of Energy Act or Republic Act 7638;

The Environmental Impact Assessment System or Presidential

Decree 1586;

Special Economic Zone Act or Republic Act 7916;

Urban Development and Housing Act or Republic Act 7279;

Office of the President Administrative Order 226 as amended by

226A series of 2008 on suspending the processing and approval of
all land conversion applications of all rice lands;

Executive Order 807 Series of 2009 repealing Letter of Instruction

(LOI) No. 58 of 1973;

Executive Order 774 Series of 2008 on Reorganizing the

Presidential Task Force on Climate Change;

Executive Order 481 Series of 2005 on Promotion and Development

of Organic Agriculture in the Philippines;

Senate Bill 3038: Private Land Forestry and Incentive Act of 2009;

Senate Bill 3131: Water Use Efficiency and Conservation Research

Act of 2009;

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
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CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

10

Senate Bill 3296: Waterless Technology Act of 2009;

Senate Bill 3264: Organic Agriculture Act of 2009;

Senate Bill 337: Soil and Water Conservation Act of 2013

MediumTerm Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 20042010;

1.3

Hydrologic Cycle
To better understand Soil and Water Conservation, one must by
knowledgeable of the Hydrologic Cycle. Hydrologic cycle is the
process by which water travels from the Earth's surface to the
atmosphere and then back to the ground again. The sun provides
the energy for a continuous exchange of moisture between the
oceans, the land and the atmosphere.
This diagram shows the different parts of the water cycle.

Figure 1.4 Hydrologic Cycle (Image from http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/)

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Professor
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CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

11

The Water Cycle Processes

Surface run off. Surface run off is the precipitation that falls on land
and flows downhill towards stream channels which join rivers and
eventually reach the oceans. Only about one third of precipitation
falling on land will return to rivers and oceans. The rest will be
soaked into the soil as groundwater, evaporated or transpired.
Surface run-off causes soil erosion a natural process of due to the
force of water. In the Philippines, being a tropic country, rainfall is
the major source of precipitation.
Groundwater. Some of the water from precipitation will soak into
the soil and rocks as groundwater. A varying proportion of
groundwater stays in the shallow soil layer, and will move slowly
towards streams and rivers. When groundwater soaks deeper into
the soil it refills the underground aquifers, where it can stay for long
periods of time or be used by humans through drilling wells into
aquifers.
Aquifer. An aquifer is a layer of water soaked sand, soil, stone, silt
or clay underground. Aquifers act as huge underground water
storage systems which people all over the world rely on for fresh
water.
Reversible change of state.A change that can be undone or
reversed. Energy is required for a material to change state and
whilst it may change in appearance, it will still remain the same
material. Melting, freezing, boiling, evaporating and condensing are
always reversible changes and can be reversed by heating or
cooling.
1.4

Major Conservation Practices in the Philippines

The major conservation practices in the Philippines, particularly the
government centered its effort on through the NAP. Its effort on Soil
and Water conservation is aligned to its three thematic programs
namely;
1. Creation of livelihood to affected population;
2. Sustainable use and management of affected ecosystems;
and
3. Formulation of a national adaptation platform to climate
change for food security and improved resilience to natural

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

12

disasters.
To achieve these programs, a short to medium thematic clusters
were formulated;
1. Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Technologies including
Adaptation;
2. Capacity Building and Awareness;
3. Knowledge Management and Decision Support;
4. DLDD and SLM Monitoring and Assessment;
5. Policy, Legislative, and Institutional Framework;
6. Funding and Resource Mobilization; and
7. Participation, Collaboration, and Networking.
Some of the expected output for the NAP are the following;

Generation of 15,750 hectares (ha) of new areas for upland

agriculture to benefit about 7,500 upland farmers through the
provision of rainwater harvesting in the uplands of Ilocos
Region and the Visayas Islands;

Rehabilitation of 6,100 ha to benefit 4,200 farmers through

the repair and improvement of existing smallscale irrigation
projects (SSIPs) in the upland ecosystem;
Management of 130,000 ha of critical watershed areas of
existing national irrigation systems and communal irrigation
systems;
Establishment of 126 agrometeorological stations in
strategic upland areas and 126 early warning systems for
lowland population preparedness;
Reduction of usage of chemical fertilizers in about 200,000
ha through farm wastes recycling and reuse, and onfarm
composting technologies;
Water savings of about 15 to 30% in irrigated rice production
areas of 1.5 M ha;
Networks of Model Farms cum Farmer Participatory Learning
Centers (FLPC) in 16 Regions of the country to cater
vulnerable areas to DLDD;
Compendium of indigenous knowledge and best practices
and technologies relating to sustainable resource utilization;
knowledge products such as brochures and manuals on
drought mitigating measures and land degradation
prevention; and flyers/bulletins on early warning system and

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT

13

advisory on the occurrence, intensity and duration of El Nio

effects and other calamities;
Compendium of bioreferences for the selection of suitable
agricultural commodities for agrobiodiversity and forest
development;
Optimum utilization of seasonal climate and water resources
information and forecasts and empowered farmers in affected
areas through Climate Field School (CFS) and Farmer Water
School (FWS); and Digital maps on DLDD hotspots and land
use changes due to impacts of SLM adoption.

As planned, the important deliverables of the Phil NAP 20042010

within the implementation period are:
1. Establishment of 5,000 community learning centers for training
15,000 upland dwellers and for developing community initiatives on
local area development;
2. Construction of 100,000 small water retention structures in critical
watershed areas for the period 20052010 to cover about 200,000
ha and benefit about 130,000 upland dwellers;
3. Reduction by 30% of farmers dependence on chemical fertilizers at
the end of 2010 by implementing balance fertilization strategy
through the proper combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers;
and
4. Prevention of desertification and further expansion of land
degradation through the rehabilitation of approximately 200,000 ha
of degraded lands in seasonally arid areas and about 250,000 ha of
forestlands.
Erosion
The major causes of erosion are by force of water or by wind. The
control of soil erosion is essential to maintain crop productivity, reduce
sedimentation, and reduce pollution in streams and lakes. In the
Philippines, soil degradation is one of the most ecological problems
today. The National Action Plan of the Bureau of Soil and Water
Management reported that 5.2 million hectares of land are seriously
degraded resulting to 30 50 percent reduction in soil fertility.
There are various classes of soil erosion, ranging from no apparent
erosion to severe erosion

RENEL M. ALUCILJA
Student
PhD in Agricultural Engineering

DR. ROMEO B. GAVINO

Professor
AE 815. Advanced Soil and
Water Coservatioon Engineering