Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g.

lakes, rivers, oceans,

aquifers and groundwater). This form of environmental degradation occurs when
pollutants are directly or indirectly discharged into water bodies without adequate
treatment to remove harmful compounds.

Air pollution is the introduction of harmful substances including particulates and

biological molecules into Earth's atmosphere. It may cause diseases, allergies or
death in humans; it may also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals
and food crops, and may damage the natural or built

environment. Human activity and natural processes can both generate air pollution.

Soil erosion is a naturally occurring process that affects all landforms. In agriculture,
soil erosion refers to the wearing away of a field's topsoil by the natural physical
forces of water (Figure 1) and wind

(Figure 2) or through forces associated with farming activities such as tillage.

Shifting cultivation in the Philippines is widely referred to as 'kaingin', but as this

paper reported, different communities attached different meanings to the term. The
most common local definition was slash-and-burn with no return to forest, and
farmers in all areas attributed deforestation to kaingin rather than to commercial
logging. Farmers had responded to deforestation by planting or regenerating trees
on their lands. The areas with the most secure land tenure had the highest diversity
of tree species on farms.

A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English) is any material of natural

or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is applied to soils or to plant
tissues (usually leaves) to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the
growth of plants.