The National Soil Health Program (NSHP), which intends to rejuvenate the country’s degraded and “sick” soil, has received the green light from President Duterte, the Department of Agriculture (DA) bared Wednesday, June 9.

The NSHP will be implemented by the DA through the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (DA-BSWM) from 2021to 2023, with a budget of P523.57 million.

“On behalf of millions of Filipino farmers, we thank President Duterte for supporting this long-awaited soil rejuvenation program to enable our farmers produce bountiful crops and earn more income for their families,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.

“As soil is the foundation of agriculture, we must therefore protect, preserve, and nurture it to sustainably produce adequate, affordable, and nutritious food for all Filipinos,” he added.

The secretary further said that with the NSHP, the country now has "a science-based framework to rejuvenate our sick soils that will subsequently lead to increased crop harvests and farmers’ incomes.”

The program has components: 1. to institutionalize a national soil monitoring and rejuvenation program; 2. establish mobile soils laboratories to monitor soil health; 3. strengthen partnerships with relevant agencies and organizations to sustain food security and improve soil analysis for macro- and micro-nutrients; and 4. develop manuals on the use of physical and biological parameters as indicators of soil health.

Dar explained that the first component entails the adoption of a national soil database and monitoring system to rejuvenate degraded soils.

It also aims to enhance the capacities and efficiencies of national and regional soil laboratories through the acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment, upgraded laboratory facilities, and highly-trained technical staff.

The second component involves the acquisition of modern mobile soils laboratories that will serve farms far from established DA-BSWM provincial and regional laboratories. It also involves training local government extension workers, farmer-leaders, and other stakeholders on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils.

“With these modern soil laboratories, farmers would have their soil samples analyzed in a matter of minutes, with the corresponding specific site and crop nutrient recommendations,” the DA chief said.

The third component aims to strengthen partnerships between the DA-BSWM and relevant agencies and organizations to sustain food security efforts.

Local government units (LGUs) will be provided with “Enhancement of Soil Test Kits" for distribution to their farmer-constituents under the program.

Lastly, the fourth component entails the development of a “National Soil Kit” complete with the “OneDA” branding. The kit features all possible indicators of soil health--the physical, chemical, and biological indicators.

The NSHP was patterned after the successful “Bhoochetana” or soil rejuvenation program implemented in 2009 to 2012 by ICRISAT in Kartanaka, India, which covered 3.3 million hectares. Dar served as ICRISAT director-general from 2000 to 2014.