The Philippine archipelago emergedbecause of the dynamic shifting and collision of fourplates: Continental Eurasian plate, Indian-Australian plate,Oceanic Pacific plate, and the Philippine Sea plate. In thepast 100 million years, the archipelago was welded togetherin an island arc punctuated by episodic and extensivemagmatic activities. The country’s topographic landscapeconsists of towering mountains with steep slopes, undulatinghilly upland areas, and flat lands. The rich volcanic soils,varied topography, seasonality of monsoon rains, abundantrainfall, and warm temperature enabled the suitability ofland for planting various crops in the different islands.Being the staple food, both upland and irrigated rice iswidely grown in various provinces all over the country.Yellow corn is largely grown in Isabela and Cagayan inLuzon; and in Bukidnon, North Cotabato and South Cotabato inMindanao. The major growing areas for white corn areMindanao and Visayas. Large plantations of banana,pineapple, coffee, rubber, and palm oil are located inMindanao while large plantations of coconut are found inQuezon and Zamboanga. On the other hand, mango plantationsare located in Pangasinan while tobacco is largely grown inthe Ilocos Region and Isabela. Large areas are planted withsugarcane in Negros Occidental and Bukidnon. Temperatevegetables are grown largely in the cool high elevationareas of the Benguet Province while tropical vegetables aregrown in the expansive areas in Pangasinan, Isabela, andNueva Ecija in Luzon and in the Visayas Region. This reportis part of a national overview of agricultural pollution inthe Philippines, commissioned by the World Bank. Theoverview consists of three ‘chapters’ on the crops,livestock, and fisheries sub-sectors, and a summary report.This ‘chapter’ provides a broad national overview of: (a)the magnitude, impacts, and drivers of pollution related tothe crops sector’s development; (b) measures that have beentaken by the public sector to manage or mitigate thispollution; and (c) existing knowledge gaps and directionsfor future research.
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