An overview of agricultural pollution in the Philippines: Summary report

Abstract

The 'study' constitutes the totality of the work and includes multiple components, including national overviews of agricultural pollution for the three focus countries, thematic working papers, and an overall synthesis report. The present report corresponds to the national overview of agricultural pollution in the Philippines, and specifically, to the summary of three background papers on crops, livestock, and fishery systems respectively. The overview covers water, soil, and air pollution directly associated with activities and decisions made at the farm level or its equivalent (that is, vessel level or pond level in the case of fisheries). It especially looks at: (a) the use of fertilizers; (b) the use of pesticides; (c) another cropland management practices (including the use of plastics, the introduction of invasive species, irrigation and land preparation practices); (d) the burning of agricultural residues; (e) animal waste management (land and aquatic species); and (f) the use of feed supplements, including antibiotics, hormones, and heavy metals in animal agriculture (land and aquatic). Environmental impacts relating to land-use change are beyond the scope of the review.