I learned that today, Sunday, 05 December is World Soil Day. Now, I say, “Regenerative agriculture
begins with the soil.”
Conservation-conscious, I am focusing on the news report by Maria Perpetua P Ocampo, “DA-BSWM
Elected As The New Chairperson Of The Asian Soil Partnership (ASP) 2021-2023[1]” (25 March 2021, BSWM.gov.ph).
Practical-minded, I look at the Science of Agriculture as Starting with the Soil.
Miss Maria says Bureau of Soils & Water Management
(BSWM) Director Sonia M Salguero has
been elected Chair of the 24 member-country ASP for 2021-2023. The ASP is under
the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The ASP countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao
PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines,
Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
This news of national pride adds color to my view that
Agriculture in fact begins with the soil, really. This was not taught when I took my BS Agriculture at the University of the
Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA, now UP Los Baños), but I have come to
believe that if the farmer does not treat his soil right, that is where all his
farming troubles begin:
If
your soil is not healthy, your crops are not healthy too – and so will not be
the consumers of your produce. It’s as simple, and complicated, as that!
To fulfill its mandate, the ASP has to support 5 “pillars
for action” – which I now summarize using the first 6 words of Pillar #1:
“Promote sustainable management of soil resources.” For the purpose, the ASP
will encourage a mix of country actions: policy support, investment, technical
cooperation, gathering of quality data, research, education, and extension.
“Sustainable development” is what the UN promotes:
“technically feasible, economically viable, environmentally sound, and socially
acceptable,” where the 3rd item in that list directly involves the
soil – if the soil is not healthy as
Mother Nature designed it to be, it is not well. If the soil is poisoned with
chemicals, it is not well. If the soil is flooded, it is not well. If the
farmer does not return what his crops have obtained from the soil, it is not
well.
With its ASP mandate, among other moves, the BSWM has
established a 20-ha model farm in 6 sites nationwide; is enhancing research on
soil ecosystem services such as the use of cover crops and green manure in
organic production. The BSWM is also now wrapping up the implementation of the National Soil Health Assessment Project
and the National Soil Sampling and
Testing Project For Rice And Corn.
Above, the bigger image[2] is from Sikhander Coopoo (Mobile.twitter.com).
I take it as another way of saying: Our health begins with the soil!@517
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