About

Project Information

Rationale

Soil mapping refers to the process of creating detailed maps or databases that provide information about the properties and characteristics of soils in a given area. This information is crucial for various fields and industries, including agriculture, environmental management, land use planning, and natural resource management. In agriculture, for example, by understanding the soil properties, farmers can optimize fertilizer application, determine appropriate irrigation schedules, and select suitable crops for specific areas.

Establishing national and global soil mapping systems requires significant investment in personnel and equipment to cover a large area, extensive soil sampling on diverse geographical locations, accurate analysis of a massive amount of data, combining and synthesizing data using unified analysis methods and criteria, and continuous data maintenance and management through monitoring. All of the above are challenges for countries in the Asia Pacific region in establishing national and global soil mapping systems.  

With the purpose of discussing the challenges and development strategies of national /global soil mapping systems and sharing experiences and technologies. The expert symposium will bring together experts, policymakers, and researchers to share their experiences in creating a national soil mapping system, introduce advanced soil mapping and monitoring technologies, and discuss the strategies for national and global soil mapping development.

Objectives

• Exchange knowledge and experiences on soil mapping.
• Strengthen the capacity of soil mapping personnel in the Asian and Pacific region.
• Identify the areas of improvement in the AFACI-SOIL program and potential future programs.
• Strengthen international cooperation on soil mapping in the Asian and Pacific region.

Themes

• AFACI-SOIL project PPRL workshop
  • Session 1: Group discussion (Achievements, Challenges, and Improvements)
  • Session 2: Presentation of the group discussion results
  • Session 3: General discussion (Recapitulations of suggestions)
• Experts Symposium on Soil Mapping and its Applications
  • Session 1: Advanced Soil Monitoring and Mapping Technology
  • Session 2: National Soil Mapping Development
  • Session 3: Poster session for the young scientists
  • Session 4: Reinforcement and Utilization of Soil Maps
  • Session 5: General Discussion
• Field visit

Program highlights (PPRL Workshop):

24 researchers from 12 countries who have been the Principal Investigators (PIs) or Co-PIs of the AFACI-SOIL project were invited to share their experiences and expertise on digital soil mapping technology, the development, and applications of their national soil information systems and discuss the future direction of soil mapping projects in the Asia-Pacific region. The presentation materials include 12 discussion papers.

In session 1, the 22 AFACI-SOIL project PIs and Co-PIs (2 Sri Lankan PIs who joined on-line could not participate in the group discussion.) were classified into 3 groups taking into consideration the similarity of regions. They were asked to discuss 3 topics as follows:

[Topic 1] What are the meaningful achievements over the past 4 years of this project?

[Topic 2] What were the major challenges you faced during the project?

[Topic 3] What should be improved in the 2^nd phase of the project? And what would you suggest for the future development of the project?

In session 2, the 3 groups each presented their discussion results, followed by supplementary explanations from group members and Q&A from participants.

In session 3, the presentations of the three groups in the previous session were synthesized by the chair, Dr. Gina P. Nilo, followed by general discussion. There was an active exchange of opinions and Q&A between AFACI-SOIL project PIs and officials from AFACI and BSWM regarding the direction of development of the AFACI-SOIL project.

Suggestions and conclusions:

• Continue tailored-fit training on digital soil mapping techniques and IT skills.
• Strengthen the pool of human resources to support current and upcoming project operations, particularly in technical and analytical roles.
• Develop efficient digital infrastructure solutions for soil data management, including user-friendly national databases compatible with the digital platforms.
• Adopt modern soil analysis techniques and tools (e.g., spectrometry, UAVs, satellite data) to enhance data efficiency and accuracy.
• Establish networks among Principal Investigators (PIs) to promote better communication, engagement, and knowledge exchange.
• Improve communication lines between project participants, organizations, and institutions to guarantee effective coordination and quick resolution of problems.
• Scale up project goals encompassing diverse applications in agricultural productions, on-farm trials, and wider socio-economic impacts.
• Develop comprehensive soil health indices and broaden the scope of soil data to cover all regions.
• Support sustainable soil management practices by pushing for changes in policy and giving priority of resource allocation.

Program highlights (Expert Symposium):

9 experts from 7 countries (Australia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Taiwan) and 7 poster presenters from 5 countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand) were invited to share their experiences and expertise on the digital soil mapping technology and discuss the future of digital soil map in the AP region. The presentation materials include 9 PPTs, 8 papers, 7 posters, and 1 abstract.

In session 1, advanced soil monitoring and mapping technologies were introduced.  

Dr. Ng presented that the soil carbon storage ability of Australia was evaluated using the Soil Security Assessment Framework (SSAF) which is a quantitative framework used to assess the ability of function, services, and threats of soil. Dr. Jien from Taiwan created precise Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) storage maps and revealed that soil erosion significantly affects SOC storage in tropical conditions. Dr. Poggio’s study examines continental and global Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) products, demonstrating how the uncertainties impact the maps' suitability for stakeholders and decision-makers, and suggests integrating all elements to identify areas with the highest prediction confidence.

In session 2, the current status of the national soil map developments was discussed. The Philippines is updating the information on soil resources using digital geospatial processing techniques. Malaysia is pursuing cooperation with various regional administrative bodies to meet the diverse needs of soil maps resulting from different landscapes and climates. Korean digital soil information system is accessible to the public and used for national policy, academic purposes, and agricultural management.

In session 3, 7 scientists from 5 countries presented their related research works by posters.

In session 4, soil maps reinforcement and utilization strategies were introduced. Dr. Syu’s study on the national-scale estimation for SOC sequestration potential (SOCsp) aims to estimate SOCsp using the soil saturation capacity concept and Rothamsted Carbon Model (RothC) model and to create SOCsp maps across Taiwan. Mr. Morgado from the Philippines discussed utilizing technologies like GIS and remote sensing which can enhance soil maps. Dr. Morishita talked about Japan’s Soil Inventory (JSI) as an online system that provides Japan's digital soil maps and agro-environmental information.

In session 5, all speakers were given the following topic in advance to prepare for the general discussion. “Why and how should the public and private sectors collaborate to develop and expand the use of the National Soil Map Information System?” Participants presented various ways to promote public and private sector collaboration in the field of national soil map information systems.

Suggestions and conclusions:

• Subsidize modern mapping and database applications of the private sector.
• Sponsor some soil laboratories in the countryside so that analyses will be easily accessible and available to farmers and other clients in general.
• Facilitate capacity enhancement of soil specialists to help government extension workers in providing appropriate soil resource information to clients.
• Integrate advanced technologies, engage in collaborative R&D projects, and promote open data policies to enhance the soil information system's effectiveness.
• Establish a regulatory framework with data usage agreements to enable the development of national soil maps through public and private partnerships.

Outcomes:

336 participants registered for the symposium, including participants from 34 countries. Among the participants, around 289 people are attendees. 29% were from academies, 45% were from public sectors, 17% were from research sectors, and others were from private sectors, international organizations, and individual farmers. The online workshop was livestreamed and broadcast on two platforms, the Cisco Webex Event and the FFTC Facebook pages. Around 133 participants join us via online mode. The Feedback form was circulated to the registered participants immediately after the workshop and 99 participants provided their feedback. Nearly all respondents were very satisfied with all aspects of the workshop (content, relevance, and logistics).