There were two major parts of the study undertaken. Soil management strategies to improve crop production in the marginal upland should include P addition through rock phosphate, guano, organic fertilizers and chemical P fertilizers. The rainwater and streamwater contain only trace amounts of P. The dominant plant species growing in the marginal area contain normal levels of P ranging from 200 to 300 mg/kg indicating that they have some adaptive mechanisms that enable them to absorb enough amounts of P from the infertile soil.
Based on the findings, it is concluded that the marginal upland soils have very low amounts of available P ranging from 0.16 to 2.22 mg/kg indicating that it is a major problem for crop production. This indicates that these plants such as such as Melastoma malabathricum, Chromolaena odorota, Imperata cylindrica, Saccharum spontaneum, Elephantopus tomentosus are able to absorb enough amounts from the infertile soil. Findings also showed that the dominant plant species growing in the area contain normal levels of available P despite the low amount of this nutrient in the soil. Results revealed that the available P in the soil was very low and did not vary much with topographic position in the landscape confirming the marginal nature of the area.
The catena sampling approach was used in this study wherein samples of soil, water and dominant plant species in the different landscape positions were collected and analyzed in the laboratory. This study was conducted in the marginal upland of Inopacan Leyte to evaluate the status and availability of phosphorus in the soil, water and plants in the marginal land. Marginal uplands have very low crop productivity due to poor soil quality (degraded soil), limited water availability, and unfavorable socio-economic conditions.
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