Soil moisture conservation and coconut yields are ❑ Covercropping with Leguminous Crops ❑ Adopting Upland Micro-Catchment

highly correlated and the adverse effects of Technique using Coconut Husk in Sloping
moisture deficit on the latter are long lasting due ✓ In monocropped Areas
to the perennial nature of the crop. Farmers need farms, maintaining
to adopt any of these conservation measures good ground cover ✓ Piling husk
depending on available resources in the farm to with leguminous in contour
mitigate moisture stress. covercrops furrows to
protects the soil reduce water
❑ Base-Mulching of Coconuts with any Crown from the impact
velocity,
Residues of extreme
weather patterns run-off
✓ Very ideal in low and preserve soil and for water
to medium rainfall mositure harvesting
areas and
✓ Enriches the soil
✓ Conserves moisture with organic conservation
and improves water matter and
infiltration nutrients and avoids soil compaction
✓ Enriches soil with
✓ Provides biological tillage improving water
organic matter
and valuable percolation capacity of soil
nutrients upon
decomposition
❑ Burying Cocopeat/Coconut Husk in Pits
❑ Applying Organic Soil Amendments or Trenches around the Palm Canopy
(Compost, Manures, Cocopeat) on Coconuts ✓ Cocopeat or
and Intercrops chopped husk for ❑ Drip Irrigating Coconuts
water harvesting
✓ Improves soil ✓ A bearing palm
structure thus ✓ Improves water need at least
better root holding capacity 30 liters of
penetration and of soil water per day.
water percolation
✓ Increases organic ✓ Irrigating
✓ Increases soil improves yield
organic matter matter content
hence increase ✓ Drip irrigation
water and nutrient makes efficient
holding capacity use of water.
✓ Provides valuable
nutrients to the soil
❑ Chloride Application on Coconut Guide to Follow in the Application of Chloride
✓ Common salt or sea salt is the cheapest and on Coconut
most practical source of chlorine (Cl) for ✓ Apply every two years to minimize the depressive
coconut, especially if the soil is inherently high impact of drought – ensuring a shorter time for
in the macronutrient K (> 0.70 meq./100 soil). trees to recover from the El Nino. Department of Agriculture
✓ It is always desirable to increase the leaf Cl ✓ Apply at least a month before the onset of long Philippine Coconut Authority
concentration of bearing trees to at least 0.60% dry period so water will be available to the crop
to avoid the crop’s physiological stress due to for the accompanying cations ( Na+, K+, NH4+) to
the long and strong drought or El Nino. be easily absorbed by plants
✓ The average recommendation for NaCl at ✓ Apply fertilizer within the soil feeding zone (1 to
different development stages of the palm is 1.5 m around the trunk base) to avoid Na and Cl
shown below: toxicities on sensitive intercrops like fruit trees
Rate of NaCl/ ✓ Broadcast fertilizer over weeded area in flat to
Stage / Age slightly sloping areas
plant
Nursery 50 g ✓ Broadcast, followed by fork-in or soil
incorporation at 2 to 3 inches depth of soil when
Field-planting (FP) 100 g common salt combined with nitrogen fertilizers as
Six month from FP 150 g urea (46-0-0) and ammonium sulfate (21-0-0)
One year from FP 500 g ✓ Make 8 to 10 holes (3 to 5 inches deep) around
Two years from FP 750 g the trunk base sloping and hilly areas; amounts
of fertilizers distributed equally into these holes
Three years from FP 1.0 kg and covered with the dug soil
Four years from FP 1.5 kg
✓ Apply a total of 50 g NaCl/seedling for the 6 to 8
Five years from FP 2.0 kg month old seedlings to have big girth (region
below the oldest living leaf) and normal number
of healthy leaves to cope with the adverse soil
References: conditions and dry period water stress following
Agri Info. 2015. Soil and Water Conservation field-planting.
Methods-Management Practices. April 2019
Anon. 1990. Soil and moisture conservation in
coconut lands. Advisory Circular No. A7. Coconut
Research Institute of Sri Lanka.
Magat, Severino S. 2008. Influence of El Niño on
Production of Crops and Yields.
Padrones et al. 2000. Recycling coconut crown
waste. PCA DRC Annual Report. Research and Development Branch
Uhay. 2018. Newsletter of DA RFU XI.