Soil Erosion Control by Coconut Husk Buffer Strip in Bohol Island of Philippines

Abstract

Soil erosion causes serious environmental problems in Bohol Island, Philippines. Considering the agricultural socio-economic situation in the island, utilizing available materials in the region to mitigate soil erosion particularly in the upland fields have been focused. Thus, slope modeling experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of coconut husk buffer strip on mitigating the losses of soil and nutrients. Based on the experimental results, the coconut husk buffer was effective to trap transported soils, however the nutrient losses from the plots with the coconut husk buffer were slightly higher than that from control plot without any treatments in the initial stage of rainfall events after the installation of coconut husk buffer strip.