Soil Science professor from Germany given the highest award by Visayas State University

Prof. Dr. Reinhold Jahn, retired professor of soil science and soil protection at Martin Luther University (also known as University of Halle-Wittenberg), Germany was given the highest award called Sandigan Award (Sandigan means someone you can depend upon) of the Visayas State University (VSU), Baybay, Leyte. In a ceremony on 03 August 2016 at the office of the president, University President Edgardo E. Tulin handed the plaque of recognition to Prof. Jahn in the presence of Dr. Wolfreda T. Alesna, Chairperson of the Awards Committee and several faculty, staff, and students of the Department of Soil Science of VSU.

Prof. Reinhold Jahn receiving the Sandigan Award from Univ President Edgardo E. Tulin

Prof. Jahn was recognized “for his invaluable contributions to the Visayas State University. Since 1995 until his retirement in 2012, Prof. Jahn initiated exchange of students between his faculty in Halle and VSU. He mentored and served as host professor to some VSU academic staff and students who conducted short- and long-term researches in his institute. He strongly supported by serving as resource person and lecturer the 13 editions of the international ecology seminar-workshops co-organized by VSU, University of Hohenheim, and the University of Halle-Wittenberg. During his many scientific visits to VSU in the last 20 years, he conducted several seminars and field works for graduate and undergraduate students of soil science and tropical ecology. Finally, the pioneering pedological-ecological researches on the volcanic soils of Leyte that he and his VSU colleagues have conducted and the international publications they published particularly the Guidelines for Soil Description published in several languages by the FAO of the United Nations and which bears the seal of VSU on its cover have brought international prestige to the university.”

Field work at Lake Danao with participants of the international training on soil examination (2006)

Prof. Jahn obtained his Diplom (MSc) from the Technical University of Berlin, his PhD and Habilitation degrees from the University of Hohenheim under Prof. Karl Stahr. He authored or co-authored several books and more than a hundred papers in international journals which have been cited more than 2,000 times (Source: Google Scholar). He has conducted research projects in Germany, Spain, various parts of Africa, China, Indonesia and the Philippines.  He was elected chairman of various commissions in the German Society of Soil Science and the International Union of Soil Sciences.

During a soil excursion to Southern Leyte with graduate students (2009)

The formal awarding ceremony, which Prof. Jahn was not able to attend, was held at the VSU Gym on 10 August 2016 as one of the highlights of the 92nd Anniversary Celebrations of the university. 

Soil excursion to Southern Leyte, Philippines with Prof. R Jahn

On 09 April 2010, we organized a soil excursion to Southern Leyte for selected graduate students pursuing MSc degree in Soil Science at the Department of Agronomy and Soil Science of Visayas State University in Baybay, Leyte. The main objective of the activity was to observe the important soils of the province.

Prof. Dr. Reinhold Jahn of Martin Luther University (Germany), former Chairman of the Soil Geography Commission of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), served as the resource person. The participants included Grace Enojada, Marilou Sarong, Katrina Piamonte, Deejay Maranguit, Glenn Largo, and Raffy Rodrigo.

The group first focused on the young soils in the alluvial plains which are generally used for lowland rice production. Prof. Jahn discussed the important features of paddy (rice) soils particularly gleying, mottling, and the occurrence of plow pan.

During his recent fieldwork in the Banaue rice terraces in northern Luzon, Prof. Jahn noted that plow pan is generally absent in the rice terraces since puddling is not part of the normal cultural management practices there. Puddling is the process of destroying the structure of rice soil by cultivating it when it is wet in order to homogenize the soil and to produce a watertight soil paste to hold water on the soil surface.

In the mountainous portion of Southern Leyte, highly weathered soils (Ultisols) that developed from basalt and other igneous rocks are widespread. The group examined a Ultisol soil profile that was very deep and heavy clay, and which showed the occurrence of mottles and exfoliation weathering of rock in the lower portion of the profile. Ultisols are acidic, clayey, and have generally low nutrient status. They are the most widespread soils in the Philippines.

The group also found a very beautiful soil profile of a Ultisol near the town of Silago. It formed from two parent materials (bisequm) and clearly showed lithologic discontinuity (i.e. the heterogeneity of the parent rock material).