The Department of Agriculture (DA) has identified 20,000 hectares of rice farms in the towns of Javier and Abuyog in Leyte province for the soil rejuvenation program that will employ the best-bet soil, water, crop, and nutrient management options to increase yield.
The three-year project dubbed “Yamang Lupa”, launched in Leyte on July 15, will cover 12 rice-producing villages in these two Leyte towns, replicating the success of the program in Samar, included as a pilot area of the program in 2014.
DA Eastern Visayas Regional Executive Director Angel Enriquez said on Tuesday that initial activities this year would involve soil testing to assess the lacking nutrients.
“From there, the collaborating agencies, such as the DA regional office and the Visayas State University will assist the local governments towards making these soils healthy and productive, utilizing the various available soil rejuvenation techniques,” Enriquez said in a statement.
The two adjacent Leyte towns have both irrigated and rainfed areas and with watersheds facing challenges of low productivity and ecosystem degradation.
These areas are also the focus of the Regional Convergence Initiative- an undertaking collaborated by government agencies to achieve inclusive growth, improved productivity, poverty reduction, protection and rehabilitation of natural resources, and sustainable and environment-friendly livelihood opportunities and enterprises.
Specifically, the program aims to reduce production cost by 10 to 20 percent; increase yield and income by at least 15 percent; raise cropping intensity by 30 percent; improve soil fertility by 10 percent; boost farmers’ adaptive capacities on farming technologies, strategies, and approaches by 60 percent; operationalize agricultural livelihood and marketing systems by 20 percent; and improve entrepreneurial skills of farmers, youth, and women groups.
“We are encouraging all the farmers to really learn everything as offered in this program, specifically to follow the proven scientific methods to correct and complement the nutrient required and needed by your farm. We also asked the local governments to come up with their own plans to sustain this program even after the initial three-year period,” Enriquez added.
“Yamang Lupa” was piloted in 2014 in three provinces – Samar, Quezon, and Zamboanga Sibugay.
The program covered 3,705 farmers and a total of 32,903 hectares, where it generated 2,528 soil health cards.
The program in Samar generated soil fertility maps, adopted the best farm management practices, and followed the recommended macro-and micro-nutrients for soil rejuvenation, according to Enriquez.
The DA reported that the average yield in tons per hectare of all commodities increased significantly, with ginger, rice, and sweet potato, posting a 193 percent, 30 percent, and 79 percent increase, respectively. (PNA)
