Agriculture Business Week

Since Nitrogen is a major plant nutrient, farmers usually shell out so much money for chemical nitrogen fertilizers like urea. However, studies show that these imported and expensive synthetic fertilizers make soil acidic and degrade its fertility, and pollute the water table.

This was the reason why Dr. Mercedes U. Garcia of the University of the Philippines Los Banos invented Bio-N, a biofertilizer derived from the bacterium Azospirillum found in the roots of the local grass (talahib), which thrives throughout the Philippines.

According to Dr. Garcia, the atmosphere is comprised of 78 percent nitrogen but it cannot be absorbed by the plants as nutrient. The Azospirillum in Bio-N solves this problem by converting the nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form that can be readily used by the plants.

This cheap and local fertilizer, adds Dr. Garcia, is applied only once as a seed coat and/or as a root dip, which should be done before sowing. First used to increase rice and corn production by 30 to 50 percent, Bio-N has similar effects in tomato, eggplant, okra, onion, and bitter gourd or ampalaya. Studies undertaken by Dr. Garcia and her group revealed that Bio-N is also an excellent microbial fertilizer for high-value vegetables like lettuce, pepper, broccoli, legumes, and celery.

Although the use of Bio-N was identified as the best practice in biotechnology. Dr. Garcia said that it took almost 20 years since its discovery before it was brought to the Cordillera Region. She campaigned hard for the government to make this fertilizer accessible to farmers but it was only in 1998, when Dr. William D. Dar was the acting secretary of the Department of Agriculture, when DA supported the promotion of Bio-N.

Since the DA adopted this technology, 61 Bio-N mixing plants were already established throughout the country, says Dr. Ida Dalmacio, BIOTECH director. Five of these facilities are in the Cordillera.

The facility in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao ]k operated by the municipal local government unit and its capacity covers 21,532 hectares (ha) of corn lands and 12,606 ha of rice lands in Ifugao. The LGtalso sells Bio-N at P60 per packet (200 grams) to other farmers in the region.

The facility in Abra, on the other hand, is operated by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist. It can only produce a maximum of 700 packets of Bio-N and covers 4,118 ha of corn lands and 24,925 ha of rice lands in Abra.

The Bio-N facility in Rizal, Kalinga, which the DA-RFU-CAR turned over to the Rizal Multi-purpose Cooperative on September 21, 2007, initially covers 23,100 hectares of agricultural lands in the municipality. Another facility that the DA-RFU-CAR turned over to a farmers’ cooperative is the one in Sta. Marcela, Apayao. Since October 16, 2007, the Masisit Dacal Livelihood Cooperative (MasCoop) has been operating this facility which covers 21,950 ha of rice lands and 4,437 ha of corn lands.

The newest is the one at the Benguet State University (BSU). Launched last January 8, 2008, the facility is intended for semi-temperate vegetable farmers in Benguet, Mt. Province, and Ifugao. It is also expected to boost the region’s campaign for organic agriculture, contribute to the conservation of environment, and increase the income of poor farmers.

During the launching which was attended by Dr. Garcia, Dr. Dalmacio, Dr. Rogelio Colting, president of BSU, Ceasar Rodriguez, regional executive director of DA-Regional Field Unit Cordillera Administrative Region, and farmers, Dr. Carlito Laurean, a soil scientist, said that the artesian wells in the La Trinidad, Atok, and Baguias are contaminated with nitrates.

Due to this, Director Rodriguez challenged the Cordillera Organic Agriculture Movement to work hard to urge at least 70 to 80 percent of farmers in the region to practice organic farming. If this happens, says Dr. Colting, the local agriculture industry will be more globally competitive because the global market is demanding for organic food.