SALT: AN ALTERNATIVE TO DESTRUCTIVE SLOPE FARMING

On his recent visit to Northern Iloilo, Engr. Salvador Alipe of the Engineering Division of the Provincial Agriculture Office said that the damage to the slopes planted to corn for several years now may be irreversible. During that visit, large portions of the road leading to Brgy. Langka in Batad were covered with mud and silt that came from the slopes above the road. Landslides are now a regular occurrence mainly due to the lack of live trees and bushes to hold the soil. Corn which is the main crop of farmers in the area was the main reason why they cleared the slopes of trees.

Initially, the yields of the corn crops were high because years of secondary forest growth built the rich top soil. After a few years though, fertility declined but the yields were sustained due to the heavy application of chemical fertilizers. The initial culture method was traditional, meaning, the land is first plowed then corn is planted on the furrows. Many farmers did not also practice contour plowing and row-making, rather, they made their rows straight from the top to bottom and this even sped up soil down flow or erosion.

In recent years, chemical companies introduced and advocated the ZERO TILLAGE TECHNOLOGY where the slopes are no longer plowed but sprayed with glyphosate herbicide. This chemical was effective and reduced the labor cost of corn production but wanton use also created another problem- chemical contamination of the streams and water systems from the mountains down to sea. While glyphosate is said to be safe to mammals, its negative impact on the environment had been substantial. Studies in various parts of the globe established the destruction of aquatic ecosystems because glyphosate also killed aquatic flora when the chemical leached from the farms and flowed into the streams.

But the LGUs and the farmers have alternatives if they decide to act now and gradually transform to a more sustainable farming system for the slopes. As explained in last week's issue, these alternatives can be adopted and will help mitigate erosion and chemical contamination. We will now discuss the Sloping Agricultural Land Technology or SALT.

SALT was developed by the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center, a not for profit organization based in Bansalan, Davao del Sur. The center is located in the mountainous area along the national highway going to North Cotabato. In the late 1970s, the center's management led by missionary Rev. Harold Watson observed that the farmers in the area were poor and that their sloping land had already deteriorated where yields were low. These farmers were barely able to feed their families and send their children to school. They also planted corn and other short term crops because this is what they knew and had no other alternatives.

The center's primary mission was to establish a church but in the process, they had to engage in farming not only to feed the employees but also to generate models that may help the community improve their economic status. Since the whole area was mountainous and hilly they had to evolve farming models to suit the environment. They studied not only the farming methods of farmers around but also their economic status and they concluded that their farming system not only makes them poorer but is taking a serious toll on the environment. Where corn and upland rice farming had been intensive, many of the farms had already been abandoned due to exhaustion of soil nutrients and the land cannot anymore support a good crop of rice or corn. In some areas, land had eroded and had minor landslides.

While in previous generations, the original settlers and natives had the opportunity to allow the land to rest or fallow by shifting to other areas when land had become barren, the inflow of settlers prevented these farmers to open fresh land to cultivation. They had no option but to continue tilling the land they have occupied.

The MBRLC mission at Kinuskusan had to study and develop the best possible farming practices given the consideration that the farmers cannot anymore go to other areas to farm but have to maintain both fertility and productivity of their land. The farming system to be developed has also to consider the long term effects on the environment. Borrowing concepts from various parts of the globe, the missionaries developed what they called SALT or Sloping Agricultural Land Technology.

SALT revolves around the concept of conservation farming where land is farmed but sustainability and environmental protection are also as important. It calls for establishment of an apex or crown crop of permanent cover or trees, not only to provide cover at the mountain or hill top but also to hold the soil which is often the worst affected. Contour lines are developed to serve both as soil erosion control and to be planted with leguminous trees and bushes whose leaves are regularly harvested for animals and as green mulch which when decomposed will also serve as fertilizer for the crop planted between the contour lines.

Short term or cash crops are planted between the contour lines. These provide immediate income for the farmers. However, planning of the crops should also be made. Grassy crops like corn and rice which are fertilizer-hungry are rotated with leguminous crops like munggo and soybeans which also produce nitrogen due to the action of the rhizobium bacteria which can fix nitrogen gas from the air.

Some bands are planted with long term crops like cacao, coffee, rubber and fruit trees. These long term crops provide both income and better soil holding capability that further protects the land from erosion and landslides. Cacao and coffee are also crops that can be further processed and sold as finished products with added value for the farmers and their families.

The MBRLC had also developed other models, all revolving around conservation farming. In SALT 2, livestock can be simultaneously raised which are fed from the contour lines planted to edible legumes. At the MBRLC, they raise dairy goats which are mainly improved strains of Anglo Nubian and Saanen which are also milked for both added nutrition and income for the farmer and his family. SALT 3 model revolves around a mainly agro-forestry concept where fruits and other tree species are planted to preser4ve the land better.

In terms of economic returns, SALT models provide long term better sustainability and income for the farmer and his family. At present costs, a SALT farm may cost 200% more to establish than a purely cash crop farm but in the long run, the income derived from SALT far exceeds that of a cash crop farm. Those who have embraced the models in the neighborhood of the MBRLC have now attested to the feasibility and productivity of their SALT farms. Some who have established high value fruits in their SALT farms now literally sit back, relax and reap regular incomes from fruits like durian, rambutan and lanzones or from the regular harvesting of their rubber, cacao and coffee crops. One farmer who was featured in a national agricultural magazine claimed that his 2 hectares SALT farm earns him an average of P300,000.00 yearly from his mixed crop of fruits and industrial crops, aside from the cash crops which gives him regular income and food. (Further reading and illustration credits: http://pcarrd.dost.gov.ph/cin/AFIN/technologies%20-%20salt1.htm).

Changing the farming system in Northern Iloilo from pure corn farming to a more sustainable farming system will be hard work for development workers. While trainings can easily be conducted, the shift is not only financial but political as well. One needs to invest in developing contour lines and planting these to leguminous species like ipil-ipil, madre de cacao and bushes like flemingia, rhinzonii, cadios, etc. The farmers may find it hard to find financiers to fund the shift.

There is also the reality of corn trading being controlled by powerful individuals some of them even political leaders in the area. Thus, there is some pressure when farmers want to shift as this means reduced production of corn, the main trading commodity.

The much abused words: “political will” have to come into account in this case. There has to be a policy shift where corn farming on slopes have to be regulated. The LGUs in Northern Iloilo need to act now before the slopes in their jurisdiction will have become barren and eroded.