The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed and Extension Programs, is developing location-specific fertilizer recommendations to help local farmers maximize their resources amid high fertilizer costs.
“Farmers’ resources have now become more limited because of high fertilizer costs.
Meanwhile, current practices show that if farmers continue to apply fertilizers that are not appropriate to crop needs, their resources are wasted, and yields can be sacrificed. We want to help them address that,” Flordeliza Bordey, PhilRice’s RCEF program management office head, said in a statement.
The agency started conducting massive soil analysis of farmers’ fields representing major soil types in RCEF target areas through the use of the Minus-One Element Technique (MOET) kit during the 2021 wet season.
It is expected to complete generating specific recommendations for a total of 512 municipalities by the end of 2023.
PhilRice said based on studies, mineral nutrients are vital in boosting rice growth and development but some mineral nutrients have limited availability in the soil and must be supplemented with fertilizer application.
Proper amount of fertilizer application is deemed crucial as too little use will lead to suboptimal yield while excessive use is costly and can lead to soil and water pollution.
“We have processed the recommendations from the first batch of the MOET setups and are getting ready to cascade these to the target areas. We are collaborating with our partner-local government units to ensure that the recommendations reach the farmers, which they would hopefully adopt,” Bordey said.
MOET is a diagnostic tool used to identify deficient macronutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and micronutrients including sulfur, zinc and copper in field conditions. Part of its results show the right element, amount and timing of fertilizer application needed by the crop for better yields.
The RCEF-Seed Program is a component of the Rice Tariffication Law, which allots P10 billion funds every year for the rice farmers from the rice tariff earnings of the country for six years. Jed Macapagal