Published on 04 April 2013 [
manilatimes.net ]
Written by JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ
The
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will increase by more
than half the production of bio-fertilizers in the first half of the year to
ensure stable supply of root growth enhancers for planting materials to be used
in the government’s National Greening Program (NGP).
In a
memorandum to Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, Ecosystems Research and
Development Bureau (ERDB) Director Portia Lapitan said the agency expects to
produce 155 metric tons (MT) of bio-fertilizers this semester, or 55 percent
higher from last year’s production.
“A total of
155 tons are to be distributed to 16 regions from January to June 2013, with a
maximum of 10 tons per region,” Lapitan said.
ERDB is using
“mycorrhizal” technology in producing fungus-based fertilizers, which has for
its main component a nitrogen-fixing bacteria species called “vesicular
arbuscular mycorrhiza.”
Mycorrhiza is
known to promote fungal infection in the root area of a plant, induce root
growth, and improve transfer of water and nutrients to the host plant.
The
production of the bio-fertilizer was first pegged at 100 MT in May last year,
when it entered into a partnership with the National Institute of Molecular
Biology and Biotechnology of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños
(UPLB-Biotech).
Lapitan noted
that the production capacity of UPLB-Biotech has been hitting 25 MT per month
since last December.
Dr.
Evangeline Castillo, ERDB science research specialist and project leader for
the mycorrhizal production, said some 43 MT has been distributed to various
DENR field offices as of March this year.
Castillo said
that satellite nursery facilities would be constructed this year to mass
produce the bio-fertilizer by the DENR for the next four years of the NGP’s
implementation, as well as for possible public consumption after 2016.
“The project
hopes to produce about 500 tons of mycorrhiza by the end of the year from the
three satellite nursery facilities established in Laguna, Bohol and Zambales
provinces,” Castillo said.
She added
that the mass production of bio-fertilizers was in compliance with Paje’s order
to maintain an 80 percent survival rate of planted seedlings under the NGP.
The DENR is
also planning to put up another mycorrhiza facility in Agusan del Norte to
supply the bio-fertilizer requirements of the NGP’s implementation in Mindanao,
Castillo said.
ERDB’s
facility inside the UPLB has been in production mode of the bio-fertilizer in
preparation for the supply needs for the second semester, while the
construction of other facilities is now in full swing.
These
facilities are located in Bohol Island State University in Bilar, Bohol; Ramon
Magsaysay State University in Botolan, Zambales and Caraga State University in
Butuan City, Agusan del Norte.
Castillo said
that the use of mycorrhiza as fertilizer is more practical because of its
unique characteristics that boost root growth.
“With the
limited availability of water particularly during long dry season, mycorrhiza
increases the plant’s tolerance to drought,” Castillo said.
She said that
biofertilizers were also effective even in hostile environments like mine waste
areas and mine tailings site, citing studies which show that mycorrhiza has
unique mechanisms that sequester heavy metals in the soil, thus increasing the
plant’s tolerance to toxicity of the metals and minimizing their transfer to
the plants treated with the bio-fertilizer.
______________________________________________________
