A major stumbling block for Filipino farmers in increasing their yields and incomes is the condition of the soil they grow their crops. This is because They do not replace the nutrients in the soil that their crops with only three to six elements, but extract 20 to 30 that plants use and need to be productive.
Prodded by the Government, those who are receptive to the idea now apply organic fertilizers to rehabilitate depleted soils. They have learned that natural fertilizer is a solution to the problems facing the agricultural production today. The most commercially available and cheapest organic fertilizers are mixes of processed chicken manure (PCM) and carbonized rice hull (CRH). Sugar mills offer bagasse ( the fiber-like material left behind after sugarcane is crushed during juice extraction ), an abundant and relatively cheap soil amendment material that can be bought by the truckload. In some areas vermicast, a higher quality fertilizer , is available –albeit in limited quantities and at higher prices.
Most commercially available organic fertilizers are low in nitrogen (N),phosphate (P), and potassium (K),collectively known as NPK, compelling farmers to apply these basally and to side-dress with inorganic fertilizers like urea and 14 -14-14. As a result, input costs are still high and profitability is low.
However, if farmers only use organic fertilizer, they must be prepared to wait at least two seasons before their soil starts attaining the state that will enable them to profit better from their harvests.
But a natural fertilizer in the market can show results fast, and can also be used solo for lower input costs. A new agri-inputs company in the country, B&O is helping farmers take better care of the soil so that it can effectively support their crops. B&O stands for Berentsen and Ocampo.
A product for restoring soil productivity. The new firm is marketing an organic fertilizer from South America that it presents as a low-cost soil fertility restorer and soil conditioner. The product is Bioyodal. According to Rune Berentsen, the company’s vice president and commercial operations director, Bioyodal is a true soil reactivating agent that frees the soil’s chemical energy to facilitate the entire fertilization process. Berentsen is a Norwegian national, is part of the management of the Chilean ww
company . Bioyonal is a very complete complex material made up of natural components such as fossilized orebodies of organic and marine origin, and salts, algae and other biological ores homogenized over geologic time. Says Berentsen “It’s a naturally balanced mix of elements, with more than 35 nutrients and macro- and micro elements essential for vegetal and animal life. It reactivates and rebuilds the soil, and triggers in it a chain reaction that makes beneficial microorganisms proliferate.”
He goes on to say that laboratory tests determine soil fertility by the quantity and species of microorganisms present in the soil. Bioyodal caused the release of trapped material that plant cannot assimilate , and acts as a natural disinfectant that protects plants against diseases because most antibiotics are derived from organisms in healthy soil. In addition Bioyodal neutralizes toxins in soil by holding with them so that they cannot be taken up by plants. It also promotes the fixing of atmospheric nitrogen in soil, even by non –leguminous plants, by whose roots maintain microorganisms capable of doing it. He adds that aeration in soil is vital, and that the lack of oxygen results in lack of fertility, ultimatety resulting in dead soil. Bioyodal contains a high percentage of halogens – the elements fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and astatine that exist as diatomic molecules that contribute significantly to soil oxygenation, holding air and water in soil to enhance its quali
By: Richelle P. Ponce I T-II I Pagalanggang National High School I Dinalupihan, Bataan
