Agricultural run-off and pollution in Imbang River, Negros Occidental
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Abstract
This study determined the concentration of key pollutants carried by agricultural run-off from the drainage area of Imbang River, Negros Occidental over a two-year period. The quantities loaded into the river were estimated to assess the contribution of agriculture to the degradation of the river. Agricultural production in sugarcane and rice plantations in the area relied on chemicals to control pests and enhance production. Run-off from agricultural land contained an average 0.2 ppm phosphate, 0.2 ppm ammonia, 0.02 ppm nitrite, and 1.7 ppm nitrate from fertilizer inputs and other sources. The run-off also had 7.4 ppm biochemical oxygen demand, 465 ppm total solids, 296 ppm total suspended solids, 0.4 ppm settleable solids, plus traces of organochlorine pesticides. The concentrations of all these potential pollutants were not alarming or dangerous, although on occasion, some exceeded the tolerable limits. However, increasing reliance on fertilizers often leads to intensified use and related problems. Likewise, the continuing use of chemicals to control field pests is of serious concern given that residues are easily carried by run-off to the nearest waterway and passed on and magnified through the food chain. The health of farm workers who routinely handle these products is at risk. Apart from commercial fertilizers, farm lands received organic wastes from domestic and industrial sources. Most farmers maintained farm animals such as carabaos, goats, and sheep that were allowed to graze on the fields after crops had been harvested. Grazing animals frequently left surface deposits of manure. Some farmers on occasion used sugar mill wastes as fertilizers and road fillers in the haciendas. Moreover, household wastes including human excreta were commonly disposed on nearby fields. The contributions of animal and human wastes to the total load of nutrients could be substantial but difficult to quantify given the manner of production and the varying composition of the wastes. Indeed, agricultural run-off transports non-point pollutants from so many poorly defined sources.
Suggested Citation
Gonzales, G. A. (2008). Agricultural run-off and pollution in Imbang River, Negros Occidental. In T. U. Bagarinao (Ed.), Research Output of the Fisheries Sector Program (Vol. 2. Reports on Fisheries and Aquaculture, pp. 52-59). Quezon City, Philippines: Bureau of Agricultural Research, Department of Agriculture.
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Book chapterISBN
9718511776Related items
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Water quality in Imbang river, Negros Occidental: effluents and pollutant loads from agriculture, sugar mills, households, and shrimp farms
(Bureau of Agricultural Research, Department of Agriculture, 2007)An ecological assessment of Imbang River in Negros Occidental was undertaken from December 1992 to February 1995. The effluents from sugar mills, households, shrimp farms, sugarcane plantations and rice fields were characterized and their pollutant loads estimated. Water quality and invertebrate assemblages were analyzed at several sites along the river to determine the environmental status. Results showed significant seasonal and site variations in water quality along Imbang River. The dry season, coinciding with the milling season, was the more critical time of the year as water quality tended to deteriorate. The segments of the river near the sugar mills and households had the poorest water quality. Sugar mill effluents had high water temperature (average 33oC but as high as 50oC), low dissolved oxygen, high total solids, the highest settleable solids (average 2.5 and as high as 17 m/l), and the highest biochemical oxygen demand (average 259 ppm but as high as 14,800 ppm BOD). Domestic effluents had low pH, high ammonia, very high BOD, plus detergents or surfactants and high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. Agricultural runoff had high nitrate, high total solids, and the highest total suspended solids (average 296 ppm but as high as 5,095 ppm TSS). Shrimp ponds used saline water of average 23 ppt, and had the highest total solids (average 23,456 ppm and as high as 57,400 ppm). By far the major contributor of pollutant loads into Imbang River was agriculture, due to its huge areal extent and huge volume of water use and run-off. Agricultural run-off carried the highest annual loads of 7,858 kg phosphate; 6,495 kg ammonia; 794 kg nitrite; 67,212 kg nitrate; 16,987 metric tons settleable solids; 16,800,000 mt total solids, and 11,890,000 mt total suspended solids; but only 297 mt BOD. Sugar mill effluents had the highest BOD load (1,583 mt/yr) and also had high nutrient loads. Household effluents contributed the second largest loads of solids next to agriculture, and also added surfactants (966 kg/yr) and fecal coliforms into the river. The six shrimp farms at the lower reaches of Imbang River were a minor contributor of pollutants into the river, annually adding about 891 kg ammonia; 1,077 kg phosphate; and 181,325 mt total solids. -
Households, agriculture, industry, fishing, and fish farming along Imbang River, Negros Occidental
(Bureau of Agricultural Research, Department of Agriculture, 2007)Interviews were conducted among respondents identified from the households, agriculture farms, sugar mills, and fish farms along the whole stretch of Imbang River, Malisbog River, and Muyao Creek, down to Barangay Balaring at the coast of Silay City in Negros Occidental. Among the 1,073 households, 11% used river water for washing clothes, but 20% also used the rivers for disposal of waste waters, 11% for human wastes, and 13% for animal wastes. Among the 30 respondents from the agriculture sector, 70% discharged water into the river. The two sugar mills in the area treated waste waters partially before release into the rivers; one sugar mill also released wastes in a nearby rice field. Milling wastes such as bagasse, molasses, and mud press were reused and not dumped into the river. Imbang River was both the water source and wastewater sink for seven fish farms. -
An overview of agricultural pollution in the Philippines: Summary report
; Briones, Roehlano
; ; ; Cuvin-Aralar, Maria Lourdes ; Salvacion, Arnold ; ; ; ; ; ; (World Bank, 2016)
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.
