With soaring prices of chemical fertilizers in the world market, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is pushing for the wider use of microbial-based fertilizers to ensure sustainable local rice production.
The agency said 5 to 6 sachets of Bio N, a locally developed microbial-based fertilizer, can replace two 50-kilogram bags of urea per hectare planted to rice.
“Given the exigencies of the times, we have to massively promote the use of Filipino-developed technologies to enhance crop productivity and incomes of our farmers and fishers. Bio N was developed 40 years ago by Dr. Mercedes Umali-Garcia of the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), according to DA Secretary William Dar.
The DA earlier warned that if rice production declines this main wet season due to high fertilizer and petrol prices and increasing global rice prices, the cost of local rice may significantly increase by the end of the year.
The DA said urea currently retails on an average price of P2,823.50 per bag which would mean P11,294 at the average of four bags per hectare compared to Bio N which is priced at P100 per sachet wherein rice farmers. This means savings of P10,694 per hectare for utilizing five to six sachets.
The agency added Bio N which is available in 200-gram sachets, contains organisms capable of converting nitrogen from the air into ammonium nitrogen in the soil and enhances shoot growth and root development and can replace 30 to 50 percent of total chemical nitrogen requirement of crops and increase yields by up to 11 percent.
The DA added aside from rice, it can also be used for corn and vegetables.
Last March, the DA signed a memorandum of understanding with UPLB-Biotech to expand the research and development, capacity building and upscaling of Bio N and other bio fertilizers, stimulants and technologies.
Even before the agreement, the DA under its national corn program also funded the establishment of 17 Bio N mixing plants across the country while the National Food Authority is establishing 20 Bio N mixing facilities under its corn development program.
