Fitted feat: Reviving soil vitality
By: Ma Theresa Lugares
The agriculture and mining sector are both important cogs in our goal to continually strive for progress and address poverty in our country.
Philippines, as an agricultural country, is rich in lands and shore areas suitable and advantage for the progress of our trade and industry. On the other hand, Philippines is eyed by many investors and businessmen for being rich in mineral and energy resources. Resources are continually explored throughout the islands of the country with the assumption and belief that these may be assessed for potentials of domestic utilization and foreign business associations.
However, as industrialization flourish, a downside danger for the agriculture sector is faced by the government and most especially by the farmers. Mines near agricultural areas impose threat to soil fertility and land productivity. Example of this is the 1986 Mankayan River copper contamination incident.
When the dam of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company in Mankayan, Benguet collapsed, many rice fields near it were flooded with mineral wastes leaving the area not fit for rice production. Silts of the tailings continued to damage more rice fields. This problem has greatly affected the livelihood of the residents.
On the effort to address the food security and livelihood problem of the community, a group of researchers has conducted a study and attempted to cure the acidic, copper contaminated rice field through a series of treatment and observations using rice straw compost as amendment to the soil toxicity. Compost, unlike inorganic forms of fertilizers, has the capacity to chelate heavy metals and pollutants that improve the physical and chemical properties of the soil because of its high humic acid content which help reduce bioavailability of Cooper.
The research was conducted last 2012 on a rice field at Barangay Cabiten, Mankayan, Benguet where there was a mining operation nearby. The group chose rice straw because it is the most abundant crop residues which can be converted to compost. The straw is already on the field and therefore easier to apply when compost is already mature.
Their primary observations have lead them to identify the pH level, a unit of measurement that identifies the acidity and basicity of a matter, as well as the soils copper content. The pH level was 5.9 however the copper content was high at 281 parts per million (ppm), a unit that expresses dilute concentration of substances. The number is too high from the 30 ppm recommended copper content for a productive rice field.
As the study progressed the data gathered showed change in the physical and chemical properties of the treated soil. Copper content lowered significantly to less than 30 ppm.
On an email responded by the corresponding author, Virginia Cuevas, she said that the study is still on-going however they do not conduct monthly observations.
“No. Not monthly observation. Such monitoring is expensive and impractical. You do not disturb the soil when rice is growing.We have sampling every after season of rice cropping. The study is still ongoing. We are already on our 4th season.”, Cuevas said.
As for Northern Mindanao, rice paddies where mining operations are nearby, like in Iponan, have never been focused for soil analysis that could test the suitability of land for greater productivity. However the Regional Agriculture department conducts mineral content analysis to look into and prevent deficiencies that may occur to produce as it mature.
This was the pioneer research work done for the revival of the said host area and yet been proven to be effective. If this research would be given the attention by the government, this could be the first step to reliving the agricultural sector of places where mining is rampant. Hope may still be restored for places like Mankayan, Benguet.
