Bio-organic Fertilizer Is Also Good For Tomato
Farmers in Gloria, Oriental Mindoro are fascinated by the initial performance of the bio-organic fertilizer Durabloom on their crops. It was introduced to them only last September.
For instance, Conrado “Rady” Marasigan, 61, was so proud to show to us the fruits of his tomato crop which he fertilized only with Durabloom. He planted one-fourth hectare and used the Diamante and Elegante varieties of East-West Seeds. Using a small can of sardines to measure, he applied one can of Durabloom as basal fertilizer mixed with the soil before transplanting, and he was amazed by the results.
Rady has been harvesting every other day since January 15. At the time of our visit in early March, he said he must have harvested about 6 tons already and yet much more had to be harvested. On the day of our visit alone, he harvested about 450 kilos at breaker stage, but the price has already gone down to P 10 per kilo from P8 per kilo during the first few weeks of harvest.
Rady said he will also use Durabloom for other crops since his friends have started to use it for rice and mango.
For example, the former mayor of Gloria, Jimmy de Castro, has used Durabloom initially for one mango tree and a hectare of rice to test its adaptability under Oriental Mindoro condition.
He applied 10 bags of Durabloom plus 1.5 bags of complete fertilizer (14-14-14) to his ricefield, which has lots of gravel and, therefore, very unfavorable for rice production. Durablooni was broadcasted before plowing so that it would be incorporated well into the soil. The field was also rotavated after plowing. The complete fertilizer was applied as sidedress at 75 days after transplanting.
“The rice plants have a beautiful stand,” Jimmy said. “Barring unforeseen events, I hope to get a good harvest.”
As for his mango tree, he simply broadcasted Durabloom around the tree. After one month, new leaves came out and he concluded this due to Durabloom application. “After four months, the tree is now full of flowers and I would only hope that rains will not come to destroy the flowers and young fruits,” Jimmy said.
Medardo Mornaol, on one hand, was quick to say that his rice harvest from 1 hectare during the 2008 wet season increased by 50 percent as a result of Durabloom fertilization. In the past, his average yield with inorganic fertilizer and Bio-N application was only 80 bags per hectare. With Durabloom and Bio-N application at 10 bags and 5 packs per hectare, his yield increased to 120 bags per hectare.
Thus, he continued to use it during the 2009 dry season. At the same time, the Community Multi-Purpose Cooperative, of which he is the president, has stopped selling other brands of organic fertilizer.
The cooperative started to sell Durabloom last September with an initial stock of 250 bags. Because of increasing demand, the latest arrival for the dry season increased to 400 bags, and the volume could increase further with increasing satisfaction of initial users.