Drivers of land use change in Lantapan, Bukidnon, Philippines

Issue Date

6-2010

Abstract

Agricultural intensification has been the key in addressing the growing demand for food production both for home consumption and supplying the market. The market demand on agricultural production has therefore triggered change in land use. For farmers, it makes a lot of economic sense to venture on high value agricultural products where land and labor capital is limited.

This study provided a temporal analysis that would describe the land use changes in Barangay Songco, Lantapan, Bukidnon, with emphasis on the driving forces and how they influence the farming decision of farmers.

Participatory mapping and focused group discussion were conducted with selected farmer-residents, and a satellite image to generate the historical land use map of barangay Songco. Maps were digitized and land areas were computed using the ArcGis9 field calculator to derive the estimated area occupied by a certain land use.

Land use change in Songco is influenced by a high demand of agricultural products. Furthermore, inappropriate farming systems such as up and down planting that vegetable growers practice has caused severe soil erosion, leading to the decline on crop yield due to the removal of soil nutrients. Moreover, the off-site effect of soil erosion are siltation and sedimentation which carry traces of pesticides and chemical contaminants into water bodies which are likely to degrade water quality and may create health problems for farm families and those living downsteam (Coxhead et. al. 2005).

Source or Periodical Title

Journal of Environmental Science and Management

ISSN

0119-1144

Volume

13

Issue

1

Page

1-11

Document Type

Article

College

School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM)

Frequency

semi-annually

Physical Description

tables, map, graphs, pictures

Language

English

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