Ilocos Sur embarks on soil quality enhancement program

The provincial government of Ilocos Sur is investing at least P100 million in a soil quality-enhancement program aimed at increasing the income of small-scale farmers by 20 percent within three years of implementation.

The program involves the testing of soil for deficiency of water as well as of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, boron and zinc.

The results are intended to be used for mapping out the nutrient status of rainfed agricultural land in the province.

Such maps would guide farmers and policy makers in making decisions on where and when to plant which crops, and on how much inputs like fertilizers to provide and use in which areas.

This approach, dubbed “bhoochetana” which means soil rejuvenation, was developed in an agricultural research enclave located  near this city and which has been under the leadership of a Filipino for the past 14 years.

The International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat), which is affiliated with the United Nations, piloted bhoochetana through an integrated water management project in a village some 40 kilometers away from its campus here in Andhra Pradesh state.

Shortly after, the neighboring south western state of Kartanaka implemented soil rejuvenation. Within four years, India’s Department of Agriculture has reported that farmlands that implemented bhoochetana have increased yield by one-fifth to as high as half.

Icrisat director general William D. Dar said in an interview the institute will sign an agreement with Ilocos Sur on Oct. 1 to collaborate on the project.

“The aim is to replicate the success of bhoochetana in Kartanaka through the (Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s) Sustainable Intensification for Prosperity and Growth or Sipag project,” Dar said.

He said Sipag is a technical assistance initiative aimed at increasing crop productivity, cropping intensity and farmers’ income by 20 percent within three years while improving or maintaining the health of the soil.

Dar, a former agriculture secretary during the administration of Joseph Estrada, said bhoochetana will be implemented first in a 42,000-hectare area covering the towns of Cabugao, Sta. Maria, and San Emilio.

He said ground breaking is expected in December and that infrastructure projects for soil and water management will have been identified within a year.