Terracing land

In Leyte province of upland Philippines, a considerable number of farmers use an indigenous soil conservation practice locally termed as 'cemento-cemento' or 'kahun-kahun'. This simple technique applied in areas with slopes ranging mostly from 10 to 40 percent. When a land parcel is fallowed for several years, the dominant vegetation is either common low-growing grasses or cogon Imperata. To re-open it for cropping, the farmer ploughes a strip ranging from 4-10m wide leaving a strip of about 0.5-1 m wide unploughed. The ploughed strips serve as soil traps. As time goes by, terrace formation takes place.