Happy World Soil Day 2019

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The faculty, staff and students of the Department of Soil Science (Head: Dr. Suzette B. Lina), College of Agriculture and Food Science of Visayas State University (VSU) in Leyte, Philippines, join the rest of the world in celebrating the World Soil Day (WSD) on December 5, 2019. A seminar and a quiz contest among students are part of the celebration at VSU. 

December 5 of every year was chosen for this important celebration in honor of  the late H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand whose birthday was December 5. King Bhumibol was one of the main proponents of this initiative. The proposal for the establishment of WSD was made by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) in 2002.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations supported its formal establishment as a global awareness-raising platform. In December 2013, the UN General Assembly at the 68^th session declared 5 December as World Soil Day. The theme of WSD 2019 is “Stop Soil Erosion, Save our Future”.

There are hundreds of events around the world to celebrate WSD 2019 according to the online map prepared by FAO. In the Philippines, only VSU and Don Mariano Marcos State University (DMMSU) in La Union have organized such events.

The “Scheffer/Schachtschabel Soil Science” Textbook

The Scheffer/Schachtschabel Lehrbuch der Bodenkunde (Textbook of Soil Science), the renowned standard textbook on soil science in German-speaking countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, is now available in English for the first time.  The first edition of this highly cited book was published in 1937 under the title “Agrikulturchemie, Teil A: Boden” (Agricultural Chemistry, Part A: Soil). 

Based on the 16^th  German edition which was written by a team of leading soil scientists (all renowned professors of soil science), the 2016 English edition was published by Springer Verlag, so it is available globally. I really applaud this development since I have always admired and used this book since the time I was a doctoral student in Stuttgart-Hohenheim many years ago and until now as a professor of soil science at Visayas State University. I remember I read the 10^th German edition several times, from cover to cover, in preparation for my comprehensive examination under Prof. K. Stahr. In my opinion, this is among the best, if not the best, soil science textbook for undergraduate and graduate students available today.  It is also an excellent reference for soil researchers. I have already bought an electronic copy of the book and I highly recommend it to all those interested in learning soil science.

You can also find an article about this book which I wrote in 2012 for the Bulletin of the International Union of Soil Sciences. At that time I was asked by the editor of the bulletin to name my top three soil science books.

A new book on F.A. Fallou provides details of his life and contributions to Soil Science

A new book titled "Friedrich Albert Fallou und the Begruendung der Bodenkunde" (Friedrich Albert Fallou and the Founding of Soil Science) has been published in 2013 as volume 33 (Heft 33) of the "Waldheimer Heimatblaetter", a monograph series published by Waldheim, a town in Saxony, Germany.

Friedrich Albert Fallou & the Founding of Soil Science

F.A. Fallou (1794-1877) has been considered by several authors as the Father of Soil Science. This was the subject of an article I posted earlier on this blog. Unfortunately, this distinction has been wrongly attributed to the Russian V.V. Dokuchaev. For this reason, the prominent Russian historian Jarilow wrote in 1904 that "Fallou is one of humanity's forgotten best sons".

The book  provides clear and strong evidence that Fallou founded the scientific study of soil. It was authored by two retired prominent professors, Prof. Dr. Heiner Kaden (Chemistry, Technical University Freiberg) and Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Fiedler (Soil Science, Technical University of Dresden). Prof. Fiedler has published numerous books and articles on soil science and has in fact written articles on Fallou. He is thus highly qualified to write about Fallou's works.

This is the first publication that presents a complete picture of Fallou: his origin, childhood, education, and professional activities particularly in the field of geology and of course his pioneering contribution to soil science. Some of the interesting revelations in the book include the following: a) Fallou finished his Bachelor of Law studies from the University of Leipzig,  b) he contributed rock samples (e.g. serpentinite) to a museum of natural history, c) he won a scientific prize for a paper he authored, d) he was awarded a Knight's Cross First Class medal by Saxony in 1870 for his works in geology and soil science, and e) Fallou was an introvert who lived a solitary life.

This is a very important book and it deserves to be translated into English so it would be useful to students of soil science in different parts of the world.

I thank Prof. Dr. Kaden for sending me a copy of the book. It will be an important addition to my personal collection of soil science history.

N.L. Galvez: The Dean of Filipino Soil Scientists

Dr. Nicolas L. Galvez (1903-1991) laid down the groundwork for the different fields of soil science in the Philippines and he trained many Filipino soil scientists as a professor at the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA) for 42 years. He was the head of the Soils Department at UPCA from 1948 to 1961, a difficult but crucial post-war period that had a long-term impact on the development of soil science as an academic field in the country. Upon his retirement in 1970, Dr. N.L. Galvez was honored by being appointed as a University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) Emeritus Professor. 

Dr. N.L. Galvez (Source: SAED, UPLB-CA)

Dr. N.L. Galvez was an internationally recognized scientist having published numerous relevant scientific papers on soil chemistry, soil mineralogy, and other aspects of soil science. For his pioneering and great contributions to the development of soil science in the Philippines, Dr. Galvez is widely considered, and deserves to be called, as the “Dean of Filipino Soil Scientists”.

Dr. N.L. Galvez finished his Bachelor of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, USA, in 1925 and his PhD degree in Soil Science in 1934 from the Institute of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, University of Göttingen, Germany, under the supervision of Prof. E. Blanck (1877-1953), one of the leading soil scientists during the first half of the 20th century who edited the monumental 10-volume Handbuch der Bodenlehre (Handbook of Soil Science) published from 1929 to1932. Dr. Galvez wrote a dissertation entitled “Über Bodenpresssäfte und wurzellösliche Pflanzennärstoffe” (On the pressed soil extract and root-soluble plant nutrients) which was published in the Journal für Landwirtschaft (Journal of Agriculture) Vol. 89, No. 4, pages 257-320 (1934), a prominent peer-reviewed scientific journal at the time.

The University of Göttingen is a world-renowned university associated with such scientific giants as Gauss, Wiechert, Correns, Eigen, Fermi, Debye, Nernst, Langmuir, Heisenberg, Born, Teller, Oppenheimer and many more including nearly 50 Nobel Prize winners. Interestingly, when the great theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg in Göttingen won the Nobel Physics Prize in 1932, N.L. Galvez was a student there. It is easy to speculate that he must have brushed shoulders with some of the world’s leading scientists (who were teaching or doing research in that small university town of Göttingen) which could have inspired him to excel in his own field of science.  

In recognition of his outstanding scientific achievements, N.L. Galvez was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin from January 1955 to August 1956 where he worked with M.L. Jackson (1914-2002), one of the most influential American soil scientists and author of the world-famous textbook “Methods of Soil Analysis”.  This postdoctoral experience in Wisconsin which focused on the colloidal minerals of important agricultural soils of the Philippines, must have enhanced further his international standing as a scientist.

In 2008, a museum (N.L. Galvez Hall) was established in his honor at the Soil and Agro-ecosystem Division of the College of Agriculture at UPLB under the able leadership of its former head, Dr. Pearl B. Sanchez, a professor of soil chemistry. It was funded by the US-based family of Dr. Galvez.

(Note: Many of the facts cited were taken from materials available at the above-mentioned N.L. Galvez Hall.)

History of the soil organic matter conversion factor of 1.72

Students of soil science are taught that to determine the amount of soil organic matter, soil organic carbon is measured usually by wet oxidation using potassium dichromate (called Walkley-Black method) or in well-equipped laboratories, using CN analyzer and then multiplied by a conversion factor of 1.72 or 1.724. Most textbooks and laboratory manuals do not explain how this factor was obtained, so students generally accept the value without any question just like they do with other constants used in natural sciences. 

Origin of the conversion factor

The conversion factor has a very long history and has practically survived the test of time and modern analytical methods. It is about 150 years old. It was based on studies in the 1820s by the famous agricultural chemist, Carl Sprengel of Goettingen University, that organic matter contains 58 percent carbon. But it was another leading agricultural chemistry pioneer, Emil Wolff from Hohenheim, who introduced the value of 1.724 in 1864. Since then this conversion factor has become universal despite the many later studies showing that it is too low for most soils and that a value of 2.0 is more accurate (Pribyl, 2010). When I was doing my master thesis at IRRI in the late 1980s, Dr. H.U. Neue, the head of the Soils Department and a leading expert on the organic matter of submerged soils, required us to use a factor of 2.0. 

Oldest records of the conversion factor (Source: Pribyl, 2010) 

In an excellent review of this conversion factor, Pribyl (2010) concluded that convenience, authority, and tradition rather than the strength of evidence are in large part the reason for the widespread acceptance of the conversion factor until now. However, this may be a controversial conclusion for other soil scientists in some countries. In France for instance, analytical laboratories use a factor of 1.72 or 2.0. The former (i.e. 1.72) is better suited for cultivated horizons while the latter (i.e. 2.0) is more appropriate for forest topsoils (Baize, 1988).

Who was Emil Wolff?

Dr. Emil von Wolff (30 Aug 1818-26 Nov 1896) was a professor of chemistry and agricultural chemistry at the Hohenheim Academy of Agriculture and Forestry in Stuttgart, Germany (since 1967 named University of Hohenheim) from 1853 to 1894. Wolff was one of the agricultural chemistry pioneers who made major contributions to its development and to that of soil science, plant science, and animal science. 

Prof. Emil Wolff (Source: Hohenheim Univ)

Emil von Wolff started his studies in medicine at Kiel University in northern Germany but later shifted to natural science which he finished in Berlin. He obtained his PhD in 1843 in Berlin a year after Justus von Liebig published his most important book on agricultural chemistry. This probably influenced him to focus his teaching and research on soil and plant chemistry as well as on the composition of organic substances including foods. He wrote several books among which were the “Textbook of Agricultural Chemistry (1847)” and “Ash Analysis of Agricultural Products (1877). 

Wolff belonged to the most influential and highly regarded agricultural scientists of the 19th century and had no doubt contributed to the fame of the Hohenheim school. It is thus a fitting tribute that an important street at the heart of the Hohenheim University campus bears his name: Emil-Wolff-Strasse (Emil Wolff street).

References
Baize D. 1988. Soil Science Analyses. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.
Leisewitz, C. 1910.Wolff, Emil von. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 55 (1910), S. 115-117 [Onlinefassung]; URL: http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd115599533.html?anchor=adb
Pribyl D.W. 2010. A critical review of the conventional SOC to SOM conversion factor. Geoderma 156: 75-83

The origin of the catena concept

The catena concept in soil science comes from the Latin word “catena” which means chain. So it is a chain of soils linked by topography. It also refers to a sequence of soils in different positions in the landscape. It was introduced to the scientific literature by Geoffrey Milne (1898-1942) in a paper entitled “Some suggested units of classification and mapping particularly for East African soils” published in Soil Research-Bodenkundliche Forschung, Supplement to the Proceedings of the International Union of Soil Science Vol. IV No. 3 (1935), pp: 183-198. He noted “the regular repetition of a certain sequence of soil profiles in association with topography” in East Africa which was also observed earlier (in 1911 and 1912) by the German Peter Vageler. Milne wrote that "a distinctive word is needed in referring to this phenomenon" hence, he proposed the word catena.

Ernst Schlichting (1923-1988) who was a professor at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart pioneered the approach of considering the soil always as part of the landscape. He proposed that soils in different positions in the catena exchange materials through transport processes and thus could be compared to the transfer processes between horizons in a soil profile. He and his students have shown that the downward transport of solids or solutions may lead to a direct or indirect linkage between catena elements (Sommer and Schlichting, 1997; see above figure). In Schlichting’s view, the genesis of soil can only be understood if its relation to the other soils in the catena is taken into consideration.

Typical catena in the volcanic areas of Leyte, Philippines

Catena is now also widely used in other sciences particularly ecology albeit with a slightly different meaning (e.g. a catena of terrestrial ecosystems).

Hohenheimer Bodenkundliche Hefte: 20 years of publishing original soil research

The Hohenheimer Bodenkundliche Hefte (ISSN 0942-0754) or Hohenheim Soil Science Book Series will be 20 years old in 2012. Since the release in 1992 of Volume 1 with the title “Stickstoff-Dynamik in Catenen einer erosionsgepraegten Loesslandschaft by G. Lorenz” (Nitrogen dynamics in catenas of an erosion-affected loess landscape), it has already published a hundred volumes of original and relevant soil research. Volume 100 which came out last year (2011), was authored by Shabnam Rathore and carried the title “Assessment of biomass production potential on salt affected land: a soil and terrain database case study (SASOTER) in Badin District, South of Pakistan.”

Published by the renowned Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation of the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, this book series publishes dissertations and habilitations carried out at the Institute. During its early years, it was edited by Prof. U. Babel (Soil Biology), Prof. W.R. Fischer (Soil Chemistry), Prof. K. Roth (Soil Physics), and Prof. K. Stahr (Soil Science and Petrography). The present editors are Prof. E Kandeler (Soil Biology), Prof. Y. Kuzyakov (Soil Biogeochemistry), Prof. K. Stahr (Soil Science and Petrography) and Prof. T. Streck (Soil biogeophysics), all internationally well-known soil scientists and authors at the Institute.

In its 20 years of existence, the Hohenheimer Bodenkundliche Hefte has clearly established itself as an important publication in soil science. As can be seen from Google Scholar, many of the titles published in the book series have been cited by papers in various prestigious international journals and books. Vol. 36 on dust deposition of soils in West Africa by Dr. Ludger Herrmann has been the most frequently cited volume of the book series.

World Soil Day

December 05 of every year is celebrated as World Soil Day by the global community of more than 60,000 soil scientists. According to the official IUSS website, World Soil Day is held on the said date since it is the birthday of H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, The King of Thailand, who has officially sanctioned the event.

As a tribute to the soil as a vital resource, I am posting below a poem written in 2007 by one of my former students at Visayas State University, Juvia P. Sueta. Juvy is now finishing her PhD at the Buesgen Institute, University of Goettingen, Germany.

The Soil Beneath

by Juvia P. Sueta

The soil tells a

fascinating story

of enduring patience

and great beauty.

Out of the hardened rock,

it changes into

an interesting mass

of sand, silt, and clay.

Exposed to the rain, wind

and sunshine, it

grows to maturity.

Time polished it,

throughout all history.

Out of its bosom,

the flowers bloom

and trees grow steadily.

And in its face,

the children play.

Below it;

scholars, artists,

beggars, and poets lay.

Great is the earth,

it cares and nourishes

the whole humanity.

It is nature’s best habitat,

sustaining creatures,

strong or tiny.

It bears witness,

to all that took place

throughout the ages.

It holds the secrets

of past or future events.

it is a treasure chest,

keeping nature’s wealth.

And so nothing compares

to the soil beneath.

Soil Science is also called pedology

In American soil science, pedology (pedo is Greek for ground or soil) has recently been made as a subdiscipline that deals with soil morphology, genesis and classification. In other parts of the world, however, particularly in non-English speaking countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa soil science has remained synonymous with pedology (Bech, 2006). Historically, pedology was the original term for the scientific study of the soil introduced by Fallou and it was only in 1924 during the planning for the first international congress that the term soil science was introduced as a synonym. This was in fact reflected in the paper that Glinka presented during the congress (Glinka, 1927).

Until today many textbooks, scientific journals, and academic departments dealing with soil science in non-English speaking countries bear the name pedology. In 2002, there was an internet debate among some members of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) about the term pedology. While many North Americans who joined the debate strongly argued for the use of pedology as a branch of soil science, most soil scientists from Europe (e.g. the world-renown R. Dudal from Belgium) and other parts of the world maintained that pedology is synonymous to soil science and is not a subdiscipline. Because of the disagreement, pedology was not used as a subdiscipline in the IUSS,

The traditional branches of soil science include soil chemistry, soil biology and biochemistry, soil physics, soil mineralogy, soil genesis, survey and classification, soil conservation, and soil fertility. Many soil scientists at present are experts of new emerging fields of soil science like hydropedology (interaction between hydrosphere and pedosphere), landscape pedology (role of soil in landscape processes), ecopedology (role of soil in terrestrial ecosystems), soil biogeochemistry (how biological and geochemical processes in soils affect element cycle), pedometrics (use of mathematical and statistical tools to interpret and analyze soil data), soil geography (local, regional and global distribution of soils), soil protection, and soil science history.

References
Bech, J. 2006. Eupedology: a solution to a controversy. IUSS Bulletin 109: 27-30.
Glinka, K.D. 1927. Dokuchaiev’s ideas in the development of pedology and cognate sciences. Trans. First Intern Congr. Soil Sci., Wisconsin, vol. 1, pp: 116-135

Leading Soil Scientist is Keynote Speaker of the 14th PSSST Conference in May 2011

Prof. Dr. KARL STAHR, Chairman of Division I (Soil in Space and Time) of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), the global association of soil scientists, has accepted our invitation to be the Keynote Speaker of the 14th PSSST Scientific Conference on 25-27 May 2011 at VSU, Baybay, Leyte, Philippines.

Prof. Stahr gained his doctorate from the Technical University Stuttgart, Germany, in 1972 and his Habilitation (highest academic qualification required to become a professor in Germany and several other European countries) in Soil Science at the University of Freiburg in 1979. Since 1988 he is Professor of Soil Science and Petrography at the Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart. His main fields of research are: soil genesis, soil mineralogy, land evaluation, N-cycle, and recycling of organic waste. He has conducted research projects dealing with forest and agricultural soils of Germany as well as Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, PR China, Somalia, Niger, Benin, Vietnam, Thailand, and Philippines.

Prof. Stahr has been actively involved in a wide range of professional activities serving as: Vice Chairman (1979-1981, 1985-1989) and Chairman (1989-1995) of Commission VII of the German Soil Science Society, Vice Chairman of Commission VII of the International Soil Science Society (1986-1998), and President of the German Soil Science Society from 1998 to 2001. He has organized several national and international workshops, excursions and congresses.He has been elected member of many University boards since 1967 such as Dean of the Faculty of Landscape Planning, Technical University of Berlin (1987/88), Dean of the Faculty of Plant Production and Landscape Ecology, University of Hohenheim (2000-2002) and as Vice Dean of the same faculty since 2002. He also serves as Chairman of the special research project "Uplands Program 564" of the University of Hohenheim since 2005.

He has authored and co-authored hundreds of papers which appeared in prestigious peer-reviewed international journals as well as several influential textbooks in soil science (in German). He is in the Editorial Boards of Catena, Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Geoderma, Trends in Soil Science, and Hohenheimer Bodenkundliche Hefte.

Prof. Stahr has supervised close to a hundred PhD students from many countries around the world.

Favorite and influential soil science books

Below is my short article which appeared in the IUSS Bulletin 117 (Nov 2010) and 118 (June 2011) under the title "Favorite Soil Science Books."

Soil science is a rapidly growing ecological earth science. Consequently, the number of books on the subject has greatly increased in the last two decades. So to choose my top three soil science books, I thought of this criterion: the book must have been very useful to me when I was a student and it is still useful now in my research and teaching activities as a professor of soil science. The criterion automatically disqualifies some very good books that I used as a student but for various reasons I seldom or do not use them today as well as some outstanding soil science books published in recent years but were not yet available during my student days.

My first choice is the Properties and Management of Soils in the Tropics by Pedro A. Sanchez published in 1976 by John Wiley and Sons. It discusses in a simple but in-depth manner the tropical environment (climate, vegetation types, geology, land use and farming systems); the classification of tropical soils using Soil Taxonomy, FAO and some other important systems; the physical and chemical properties, clay mineralogy, and exchange processes of tropical soils; soil acidity and liming; soil nutrients and fertility evaluations; and soil management under different tropical land use systems. This outstanding book certainly belongs to the most important and influential books on tropical soils. I still use it regularly and even require my graduate students to read certain parts of it.

My second choice is Tropical Soils. A Comprehensive Study of their Genesis by E.C.J. Mohr, F.A. van Baren, and J. van Schuylenborgh (3rd revised edition) published in 1972 by Mouton-Ichtiar Baru-Van Hoeve. The book has three parts. Part I deals on the fundamentals of climate, rock and mineral weathering, and organic matter transformation. Part II discusses oxisols, leteritic soils, podzolic soils and podzols, vertisols, paddy soils, and andosols. Part III covers the experimental and physico-chemical study of soil-forming processes. I find it an excellent and unique book on tropical soils because of the coverage and details in which the topics are presented. It has been very useful to me especially during my masteral and doctoral studies (we used it for the course on tropical soils in Hohenheim). I still consult this book often which is an important part of my personal library.

My third choice is the standard soil science textbook in German-speaking countries, the Scheffer/Schachtschabel Lehrbuch der Bodenkunde (Textbook of Soil Science) now in its 16th edition (Spektrum Academisches Verlag). The book has undergone several revisions under different teams of authors. The latest edition was prepared by H.P. Blume, G.W. Bruemmer, R. Horn, E, Kandeler, I. Koegel-Knabner, R. Kretzschmar, K. Stahr, and B.M. Wilke, all leading soil scientists. It covers the origin and development of soils; physical, biological and chemical properties of and processes in soils; nutrients and contaminants; soil systematics and geography; soils and soil landscapes of Europe and the world; soil evaluation and protection. It is an excellent textbook for students who understand German. I find it also a vital reference for my research and teaching activities.

F.A. Fallou: The Father of Soil Science

History is one of the most complicated and subjective academic fields since it is greatly influenced by the knowledge, experience, interest, and personal taste of the authors who reconstruct the history of a given event or human endeavour. It also depends on the availability and accuracy of historical records as well as on the degree of detail of the historical account. The renowned historian Norman Davies author of the book "Europe: A History" (Pimlico, London, 1365pp) wrote that "history can be written at any magnification. One can write the history of the universe on a single page, or the life-cycle of a mayfly in forty volumes." Thus, it is not unusual to read many different versions or revisions of the historical account of a past event.

The history of soil science is no exception. Some aspects of it are still controversial such as the one about its founder. Although the Russian geographer Vasilii Vasilevich Dokuchaev (1846-1903) is widely considered as the founder of soil science on the basis of his book “Russian Chernozem” of 1883 which discussed soil formation as a function of the factors climate, parent material, organism, relief and time, a close examination of historical records would reveal that another scientist had made a major contribution two decades before him. He was Friedrich Albert Fallou.

F.A. Fallou (1794-1877) from Zörbig, a small town in Sachsen, Germany is considered by several important authors as the founder of soil science (Blanck, 1949; Joffe, 1949; Strzemski, 1975; Schroeder, 1983; Feger and Makeschin, 2007). In his seminal book Pedologie oder allgemeine und besondere Bodenkunde (Pedology or General and Special Soil Science) of 1862, Fallou justified why soil is a natural body that needs to be studied and argued for the recognition of soil science as an independent natural science. He also introduced the concept of soil profile, discussed the physical and chemical properties of soils and established a soil classification based on parent rock (Asio, 2005).

Contrary to popular notion, it was Fallou in his book of 1862 who first recognized the soil as a natural body and not Dokuchaev who only published his important work two decades later. This was in fact acknowledged by K.D. Glinka (1867-1927) in his lecture during the first international congress of soil science in 1927 although he appeared to downplay Fallou’s contribution and gave the credit to his teacher and countryman Dokuchaev (Glinka, 1927). Dokuchaev’s fame was further enhanced by the fact that Glinka was widely read in North America especially since he was the first president of the International Society of Soil Science. That Dokuchaev who was only about 16 years old and still a young student when Fallou’s influential book of 1862 (Fallou’s sixth book) was published, reinforces the notion that he was influenced by Fallou although according to Johnson et al. (2005) Dokuchaev cited Fallou only once in his important work on chernozem. Whether or not this omission was intentional is unknown. Interestingly, the American landscape pedologist David J. Brown noted that Dokuchaev’s “geologic-geographic investigations” and soil maps were apparently based on the geographic maps (e.g. climate-vegetation maps) of Russia developed by the great natural scientist and founder of geography Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) but this was not acknowledged by Dokuchaev in his book (Brown, 2006).

Until now very little is known about Fallou’s book. This can be seen from the fact that most books and papers that discuss soil science history only make brief mention of Fallou’s soil classification which is only part of Fallou’s trailblazing book. The book is divided into two parts. Part I (p. 1–198) is about the general knowledge of soils and Part II (p. 199–487) presents a detailed description of his soil types based on parent rock and is relatively known.

In the preface of Part I, Fallou wrote that "the current books on soil science are just compilation of mixed materials (an aggregate of unorganized materials) from geology, geography, agricultural chemistry and plant physiology." In contrast, he stated that his book "presents for the first time the existing soil knowledge as an interconnected, concise and organized body of knowledge" and thus, as a science. He wrote: "This is the first attempt of this nature; I have blazed a trail that others may follow and improve, it does not matter if it will lead to an entirely new building of knowledge based on other principles and in another style, so that the poor and unrecognized soil science will once and for all be accorded the honor and that it will likewise be recognized as a science."

In the 22-page introduction, Fallou discussed the nature and aims of soil science, justified why soil science should be an independent natural science, and why soil is a natural body that deserves to be studied. In Chapter 1 on Entstehung des Bodens (p. 23–52), Fallou discussed the origin of soils, particularly the role of weathering and related processes like transformation and leaching, although he did not yet use the term leaching.

Chapter 2 on Wesen des Bodens (p. 54–82) is a comprehensive discussion about the nature, origin, and characteristics of the inorganic and organic soil components.

Chapter 3 on Beschaffenheit des Bodens (p. 83–107) is about soil properties such as color, structure, weight, and density, porosity, penetrability, solubility (now erodibility), and moisture content.

Chapter 4 on Räumlichkeit (p. 108–130) is actually about the dimension of the soil body. It focuses on the horizontal dimension in terms of soil distribution in the landscape as well as the vertical dimension in terms of soil depth or thickness. Fallou also discussed the distribution and thickness of the soil in the landscape in relation to elevation and slope and thus, was a recognition of the effect of relief on soil characteristics.

Chapter 5 (p.131–144) is about the inner part of the soil body in terms of the nature of soil layering. Other chapters are about differences between soils (Chapter 6), classification of soils (Chapter 7), and the role of soil in the hydrologic cycle and in plant and animal growth as well as the changes of soil with time (Chapter 8).

In Chapter 8, he wrote that "everything changes itself in form and substance with time... the soil will, like all other things in this world, get not younger but older and in the end will lose its productivity." On his discussion about the chemical processes of soil change with time, Fallou wrote that "weathering in the soil body involves transformation and rearrangement... the most important is the dissolution of the unweathered rock material to release its nutrients for plants use thereby transforming it completely to soil."

Because of the great impacts of their contributions to the development of soil science, Fallou, Dokuchaev, and Liebig are considered by some authors as co-founders of soil science. Some others notably Joffe made a slightly different distinction: Fallou as the father of soil science; Dokuchaev as the founder of modern soil science.

(Note to readers: details of all references can be requested from me)

Brief history and current state of soil science in the Philippines

First published June 2009. Revised November 2016.

Philippine soil science owes its early development to the Americans. The first soil survey was conducted by C. W. Dorsey an American soil surveyor in 1903. In 1921 a Division of Soil and Fertilizer was created under the Bureau of Science which in 1934 was renamed as Division of Soil Survey. In 1951, the Philippine Congress enacted Republic Act No. 622 organizing the Bureau of Soil Conservation with Dr. M. M. Alicante as its first director (BSWM, 2008). Teaching of soil science to students of agricultural science started as early as the 1920s at the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA). R. L. Pendleton an American from California was one of the pioneer soil science instructors who taught from 1923 to 1935. Dr. Pendleton was also an outstanding researcher as reflected by the about 50 scientific papers he published (Pendleton, 1942; Carter, 1958).

Until about the 1960s, much of the work of soil scientists in the Bureau of Soil Conservation (which became Bureau of Soils in 1957) was on soil survey and mapping of soil series in the entire archipelago as well as in promoting soil conservation practices. Because of the major role that soil science played in the green revolution, Philippine soil science enjoyed rapid development in the 1970s and 1980s ("golden age") primarily due to the massive faculty development at the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB) wherein young faculty members were sent abroad primarily to the U.S.A. for graduate studies, and to the world class soil research that was at the time brewing at the nearby International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) thanks largely to Nyle C. Brady.

N.C. Brady (Source: Facebook.com)

NC Brady of Cornell University who taught at UPCA (now UPLB) as Cornell visiting professor after the war returned to Los Banos in 1973 as the third director general of IRRI and remained there until 1981. During Brady's time (and until now), many leading soil scientists from around the world visited or conducted research at IRRI. Some of the internationally well-known soil scientists who worked at IRRI included P.A. Roger (France), H.U. Neue and H.W. Scharpenseel (Germany), F.N. Ponnamperuma (Sri Lanka), T. Yoshida and I. Watanabe (Japan), N. van Breemen and F. Moormann (Netherlands), D.J. Greenland and G.J.D. Kirk (U.K.), R. Bloom and P.A. Sanchez (USA), and S. Sombatpanit (Thailand). By establishing a world class soil research at IRRI and through his soil science textbook (Nature and Properties of Soils), NC Brady has undoubtedly had a major impact on the development of Philippine soil science.

At UPLB, some of the soil scientists who represented, or were product of, the "golden age" and who became influential teachers included: R.B. Badayos (genesis, survey and classification); I.J. Manguiat  and E.S. Paterno (soil microbiology); G.O. San Valentin (soil mineralogy and soil chemistry); A. A. Briones (soil physics) and E.P. Paningbatan (soil physics and soil conservation); A.M. Briones, D.A. Carandang (soil chemistry); and C. P. Mamaril, H.P. Samonte, W.C. Cosico (soil fertility). Two foreigners also spent a few years teaching soil science at UPLB: Dr. S. Srinilta (soil physics) and Dr. U. Jones (soil fertility).

A special mention must be made of Nicolas L. Galvez, a highly trained and outstanding soil scientist who took charge of developing the Soils Department and of training future Filipino soil scientists at UPCA after the war. N.L. Galvez was the head of the Soils Department from 1948 to 1961 and served UPCA for 42 years. Without doubt, Dr. Galvez had the greatest contribution to Philippine soil science. For this reason, he is widely considered as the "Dean of Filipino Soil Scientists". (A museum has recently been established in his honor at UPLB).

Outside UPLB, examples of soil scientists who also stood out during the 1980s and 1990s were J.B. Dacayo of Central Luzon State University (CLSU), S.S. Magat of Philippine Coconut Authority, R.G. Escalada of VSU who advised more than a hundred undergraduate thesis students in agronomy and soil science (including this writer), and N.B. Inciong of BSWM.

At present, there is a new generation of well-trained soil scientists, many of whom have obtained advanced degrees from prestigious universities in Australia, Japan, Europe, and North America, who are working at various universities, research centers, government agencies, and private organizations throughout the country. Undergraduate/graduate degree programs in soil science are now offered by several universities throughout the country the most important of which are UPLB, CLSU, Benguet State University, Tarlac Agricultural University, and Central Bicol State University of Agriculture in Luzon; Visayas State University or VSU (formerly called ViSCA and LSU) in central Philippines; and University of Southern Mindanao and Central Mindanao University in the southern part of the country. Survey, mapping, and soil fertility evaluation of soils throughout the country are carried out by the Bureau of Soil and Water Management based in Quezon City.

The soil science program at VSU in Baybay, Leyte, deserves a brief mention. Started in the late 1970s, the program has produced graduates who are now successful academics and scientists not only in the Philippines but also in the USA, Europe and Japan. VSU soil scientists have also produced high quality papers which have been published in various international journals. On November 5, 2014, the VSU administration under President Jose L. Bacusmo created the Department of Soil Science from the existing Department of Agronomy and Soil Science. In terms of faculty strength, facilities, and scientific publication, VSU's Department of Soil Science is widely considered as the country's leading soil science department at the moment.*

Finally, Philippine soil science has clearly made major strides in the last three decades but it lags very much behind those in other countries in terms of scientific outputs and professional activities. This is even true for the ASEAN region alone. Regarding scientific outputs, very few papers have been published by Filipino soil scientists in peer-reviewed international journals. In terms of professional activities, the Philippine Society of Soil Science and Technology (PSSST) has not yet been fully recognized by the International Union of Soil Sciences, the global organization of soil scientists. So it cannot be seen in the global map of soil science. There is an increasingly popular view among young soil scientists that basing the PSSST at the BSWM, a non-academic entity, has stifled the development of the organization and of soil science in the country.
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* The two soil scientists (V.B. Asio & I.A. Navarrete) included in the top 450 scientists in the Philippines in 2016 based on scientific citations & h index by Webometrics (http://www.webometrics.info/en/node/148) are from the Department of Soil Science of VSU.


(Note: The article is based on the available historical materials that I have gathered so far. I will revise it when new information becomes available.)