Land Degradation and Land Degradation and Rehabilitation:Rehabilitation:

A Contribution to the A Contribution to the PhilippinesPhilippines

Country Environmental Country Environmental AnalysisAnalysis

Nicomedes D. Briones

World Bank CEA Workshop,Manila, June 16-17, 2008

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

1. Brief description of the status of Philippine agriculture;

2. Cost estimates of agricultural land degradation; and

3. Land rehabilitation measures.

PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE

For the last 20 years (1988-2008) , agriculture has contributed annually an average of:

• 20% to the gross domestic product

• 24% to total export earnings

• 46% to total employment

Source: BAS

Cereals, sugarcane

Crops mixed w/ coconuts

Coconut plantations

a b cd

44%

38%

11%

(4.4 million ha)

(3.8 million ha)

(1.1 M ha)

Area utilization, by crop, Philippines

Total crop area: 9.934 M ha

Source: BAS

a Crops mixed w/ other plantations b Fishponds from mangrovescd Other plantations; other fishponds (Total area: .66 million ha; 7%)

(Phils. land area: 30 M ha)

0

1000000

2000000

3000000

4000000

5000000

Crop

Rice

Coconut

Corn

Banana

Cassava

Mango

3-DColumn 8

Area harvested/planted by crop, 2006

Hectares

Source: BAS

4.158 M ha

3.337 M ha

2.57 M ha

.428 M ha

.204 M ha

.171 M ha

05

10152025303540

2007

RiceCornSugarcaneCoconutBananaMango

Value of production of top 5 crops, Phils., current prices, 2007

Billion pesos

Source: BAS

EXTENT OF SOIL EROSION IN THE PHILS.EXTENT OF SOIL EROSION IN THE PHILS.

Moderate(28.3%)

Slight (29.4%)

No apparent:(23.7%)

Total land area = 30 M ha

Severe(17.3%)

Unclassified: .39 million ha

(1.3%)

5.2 M ha

8.5 M ha

8.8 M ha

7.1 M ha

Source: BSWM, 1993

LAND USE CONVERSION

Spurred by the government:

- to attract foreign investments,

- to generate more employment, and

- to decongest major pop’n. centers,

thousands of hectares of prime agricultural lands are being converted into other land uses.

Livestock: Livestock: Environmental ConcernsEnvironmental Concerns

Overstocking (of cattle, goat): Overstocking (of cattle, goat): ► overgrazingovergrazing► disappearance of desirable disappearance of desirable

pasture species, pasture species, ► growth of weeds growth of weeds ► soil erosionsoil erosion

COUNTING THE COSTS:

SOME DAMAGE ESTIMATES OF LAND

DEGRADATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

• Pioneering case studies on soil erosion and watershed degradation costs in the Philippines:

- Cruz et al (1988 – Magat & Pantanbangan, NE)

- Hodgson and Dixon (1988 – Palawan)

- Arocena-Francisco (1986 – Magat, Isabela)

- Briones, 1985 (1985, Pangasinan)

•The study by Cruz et al (1988):

Magat watershed, where sheet erosion was in the order of 88 tons/ha/yr, the fertilizer equivalent of nutrient loss:

PhP 7,580/ha/yr

(in 2008 prices)

•The study by Cruz et al (1988):

Pantabangan Watershed, the on-site cost of soil erosion (at 2008 prices):

- P40/ton from the topsoil layers

- P23/ton for the lower soil layers

The study by Cruz et al (1988)

Off-site cost of soil erosion (2008

prices):

* Magat = P103/ton of sediment

* Pantabangan = P172/ton

• Degradation cost of agricultural Phil. land (fertilizer cost replacement):

P244/ha (at 2008 prices)Source: Domingo (NSCB, 2000)

• IWMI’s Management of Soil Erosion Consortium (MSEC) research program (2002) recorded soil loss of up to 52 t/ha/yr, costing an equivalent of $68/ha/yr in their Phil. study sites.

•Social cost of depreciation of upland agricultural lands (in 1989): P6.39 billion

using a 10% discount rate (Net Present Value Method).

Source: Francisco, H. & M. De Los Angeles, 1998

SOME AGRICULTURAL LAND

REHABILITATION MEASURES

FARMING SYSTEMS INITIATIVES

•Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT)

• Integrated Pest Management

•Organic Farming•Small Water Impoundment

Projects (SWIP)

POLICY INITIATIVES

- Republic Act 8435

The Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997

The Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) OF

1997 Republic Act 8435

• Network of Protected Areas for Agriculture and Agro-Industrial Development (NPAAAD)

• Strategic Agriculture and Fishery Zones (SAFDZ)

CONCLUSION

• Some of our agricultural practices are destructive to the natural resource base (with their inevitable on-site and off-site environmental costs).

Agricultural land conservation is a good investment.

THANK YOU!

THANK YOU!