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By Conrad M. Cariño Senior
Desk Editor
To help make the country attain
self-sufficiency in rice, a bureau of the Department of Agriculture
will launch a program to reduce chemical-fertilizer use in rice
farms by at least 50 percent.
The target is to increase yields
from 30 percent to 50 percent.
Dr. Silvino Tejada, the director
of Bureau of Soils and Water Management, told The Manila Times that
the objective of the program is to reduce chemical or
inorganic-fertilizer use in rice farms which hovers between 10 and
20 bags per hectare. A bag of chemical fertilizer costs from P800 to
P1,000.
Tejada said the innovative
program, which will be called “Tamang Abono,” will encourage the
use of bio-fertilizers and compost to boost rice yields.
“We want to reduce the use of
inorganic fertilizer because of its rising prices in the world
market,” he added.
Under Tamang Abono’s protocol,
farmers will use bio-fertilizers or inoculants that enhance the
absorption of the plant’s roots of fertilizers applied on the
soil. Among the popular bio-fertilizers or inoculants in the market
are Vital-N, Bio-Con, and Bio-N. The cost of using the
bio-fertilizers or inoculants ranges from P450 to less than P1,000
per hectare.
With the roots of rice having
improved absorption of fertilizers applied on the soil, farmers can
reduce the number of bags of inorganic or chemical fertilizers used,
and use more compost produced from dried rice straws and stalks.
Rodelio Carating, the technical
assistant to Tejada, told The Times that the latest program of the
Agriculture department takes off from the “Tipid Abono” program,
which encourages the use of compost to replace up to half of
chemical fertilizers used for rice farming. Tipid Abono was launched
three years ago.
Carating said the soils bureau
already established techno-demo farms in all of the country’s
regions with rice-growing activities, ranging from 20 to 50 hectares
per region.
He added that while there are
farmers who “overuse” fertilizers, there are those who do not
apply the recommended amount of fertilizers.
“Many farmers also do not
follow the recommended amount of fertilizers because the prices of
fertilizers are high,” Carating said.
With the Tamang Abono protocol,
farmers who do not apply enough fertilizers can also benefit,
because the bio-fertilizers or inoculants will help increase yields.
For starters, the soils bureau
will expand its techno-demo farms to the 37 priority provinces
covered by the government’s GMA (Ginintuang Masaganang Ani) rice
program, with each demo farm measuring about 100 hectares.
Through the techno-demo farms,
rice farmers can witness firsthand how the Tamang Abono protocol for
fertilizer use can cut rice production costs and increase yields.
Tejada said the Tamang Abono
program can help make the country rice self-sufficient because this
will make rice farmers earn better through reduced
chemical-fertilizer use and increased yields.
Based on data gathered from the
GMA rice program website, the average yield of irrigated rice lands
is still “low” at 3.49 metric tons per hectare. But techno-demo
farms using select or a combination of rice-growing technologies are
able to produce yields from five to six metric tons per hectare.
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