Breakthrough eco-friendly rice enhancer to benefit farms

• Source:http://www.mb.com.ph/breakthrough-eco-friendly-rice-enhancer-to-benefit-farms/
• Monday, November 30, 2015

By Edd K. Usman

Farms are expected to benefit from a breakthrough environment-friendly rice production enhancer developed from seaweeds by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

DOST Secretary Mario Go Montejo said the agency will expand coverage of multi-location field trials of the carrageenan fertilizer additive.

The decision to expand the field trials came after such trials conducted in Pulilan, Bulacan showed that carrageenan, which is extracted from edible seaweed, when added to fertilizers can, among other benefits, help make rice crops stronger, produce more harvest, and become more anti-disease resistant.

Montejo said an earlier study by an attached agency of the DOST, the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), was used in research on the use of carrageenan as fertilizer additive.

“The DOST invests in research and development in agriculture leading to ensuring food security. Not only do we find ways and means to increase farm yields and make crops pest-resistant but we also use science and technology to benefit the common ‘tao’, putting more food on their table,” Montejo said.

The study of PNRI, which is implementing the Growth Promoter Program, involves the subjecting of carrageenan to irradiation to degrade the substance’s particles so that it can be optimally absorbed by plants.

More research, to be funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD), is in the offing.

Montejo said the DOST will partner with the Department of Agriculture (DA) in expanding the field trials.

He said the DOST-DA partnership is targeting to further test the technology on some 4,000 hectares of farms in the next cropping season.

He also said the “PNRI is developing precision farming methods using nuclear techniques to determine the right amount and timing of fertilizer application during a crops’ different growth stages.”

The study also includes how to optimize irrigation scheduling to make farmers reduce their cost of their inputs, he added.

Meanwhile, the DOST’s PCAARRD, in citing its Pulilan research, said, “Carrageenan plant growth regulator (CPGR) has been found successful in increasing rice yield by over 65 percent in a multi-location project.”

The trial conducted in Bulacan by the team of Dr. Gil Magsino of the National Crop Protection Center-University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB-NCPC) showed what could be a breakthrough in raising rice productivity and helping in food security.

PNRI Director Dr. Alumanda dela Rosa told the Manila Bulletin the program, which was started in 2012, is being conducted in multi-locations in Pulilan, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija and three other areas, including Pagadian City, Zamboanga Peninsula.

Dela Rosa said the plant growth promoter product from seaweeds was derived through irradiation.

“We have to make the test in multi-locations to ensure its efficacy,” she said, adding that initial positive results showed consistency in areas already tested.

PCAARRD said test results showed “on grain weight, application of three and six bags of chemical fertilizer per hectare, combined with 200 ppm (or 20 mL/L) of CPGR yielded higher grain weight than farmers’ practice of applying nine bags of chemical fertilizer per hectare.”