When forests in tropical uplands are cleared, the process of soil erosion accelerates and the surrounding ecosystem rapidly degrades. When soil erosion occurs upon an upland farmers' field, the results are soil loss and nutrient depletion, reduced crop yields and a further complication to the daily struggle for survival. The natural vegetative streams are adapted by technology in my field and have observed that it requires least labor to establish and it is effective in controlling soil erosion. The MVA is an alternative conservation farming technology which is very simple to establish because you don't need sophisticated materials to establish but it is established by just allowing the natural vegetation to grow and it is very easy to maintain and this is very effective in controlling soil erosion. I am only a tenant so before the area was controlled, I consulted the land owner who had no complaint about the idea of establishing a contours because it is mutually beneficial. Even though I don't own the land, I still want to conserve the land because it is my source of soil, soil, soil, soil and income. Besides, the grasses can be fed to the cows. Natural vegetative strips are not really a new thing. Some farmers have been using them for years, for their traditional practice that we've seen in a few areas of the Philippines. What's new is that scientists and extensionists have begun to realize that this traditional practice makes sense. It's a simple solution for a big problem. Natural vegetative strips are so easy to install that farmers are eager to adopt them when they're aware of the practice. Many farmers and their families are unfortunate in having to farm steep fragile hill sites but with natural vegetative strips they can do so and expect to maintain their yields continuously over years. They won't have to abandon their farms because soil loss has caused their yields to decline. Natural vegetative strips which are planted 8 to 12 meters apart will effectively control and protect soil particles from being detached and transported as the result of erosion by rainfall. So these strips are the key to the soil erosion concept. They provide the barrier and increase the infiltration of water so that the soil particles accumulate behind the barrier rather than running off the field. As years pass a hillside with natural vegetative strips will be preserved and transformed into tear-raised alleyways. Thus increasing crop yields and greatly diminishing the problems of erosion. How do natural vegetative strips benefit the community? Well they keep the soil on the land not in the streams and therefore they protect the quality and quantity of the water that people use as drinking water. In addition for the lowland communities by keeping the soil on the land they protect against siltation of the irrigation systems. They reduce flooding of the big lowland cities and they keep the fisheries on the coastal zones from being destroyed by sedimentation. Determining the contour line is very important in laying out the NVS. This can be done by using either a frame or the house back method. A frame can be made using a simple indigenous material. This is simple but effective in locating the contour line. While the couch back method is by just observing the angle of the back of the cow as the cows walk across the slope and this couch with method tilling out of contour line is incorporated during the land preparation. To establish NVS I determine the contour line using the cow's back method. When the head and the back of the cow is level this means I am plowing along the contour line but if the cow's back goes down or uphill it means that it's not following the correct contour line. Naturally, over time, as tear-raised alleys are formed, scouring can occur. Scouring is the effect of good soil from the upper alle, slowly being carried down to the lower alleys thus reducing soil fertility in the upper alleys. To compensate for scouring in the upper alleys, farmers simply apply fertilizer to achieve a greater balance of nutrients which have been depleted in upper alleys. Some farmers would like to have power value by planting fruit trees, tempered trees, fodder grasses and the gume and other cast perennials. These plants not only enhance soil conservation nature but also increase farm productivity which means increase income to the household. After I established my NVS I improved them by planting perennial crops on the headstroke like timber trees, bananas and fruit trees. The timber tree can be used in constructing a house, can be solved as lumber and can also be used as firewoods. The frauds can be solved for additional income and the word can be used for construction and firewoods and the grasses can be used as fodder for livestock and these saves my time in locking for grasses. We've certainly seen big changes in the years that we've worked here in the tropical uplands of Northern Mindanao. When we first came and we asked farmers why do you plow straight up and down the slopes? It accelerates the soil erosion, it makes it faster but they said it's easier, it's less work to plow up and down the hill. But today when most farmers have changed their practice and plow along the contour now we ask them why do you do it? They say because it's easier, it's less work. So that's an example of the kinds of changes that can occur in an agricultural community when the norms of agriculture change over time. Not all farmers fully practice a conservation farming today but we know now it's only a matter of time. There are more than 2,000 farmers in this area who have implemented and based on their farms but there are more farmers out there who have problems of soil erosion and needs to put and based on their farm. We can further resume out by having information, education and communication through slideshowing, training and invite and attract the interest of local government to support the activities of this conservation technology dissemination. That's what we have experienced in the lab. When Lanke was first introduced to me, I was dalfo. To cross visits I saw how farmers conserve their area and how their yield increased. I was convinced and I realized that what Lanke wrote me about soil conservations is solutions to have better production. In my understanding this would help me in conserving my land and increase production and aside from that we could help protect that environment. Natural vegetative strips are a starting point for farmers who want to sustainably care for their land, a starting point which encourages education, mutual cooperation and an improving quality of life. This video was produced by the International Center for Research and Agroforestry. With financial support from the Cornell International Institute for Food and Agricultural Development, support for research was provided in part by the United States Agency for International Development and Co-operacion Espanola, the Spanish International Cooperation Agency.