SRA hoping fertilizer additive saves costs for sugar farmers
THE Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said that it is looking to increase the use of non-traditional fertilizer additives for sugar cane production.
In a statement, the regulator said that a recently opened Beneficial Micro-Organisms (BMO) facility could expand the use of the fertilizer additive.
“(The) BMO proved helpful during the prolonged dry spell early this year because it is a foliar fertilizer and can reduce regular fertilizer inputs by about 30%or more,” Ma. Theresa Alejandrino, the facility’s supervising science research specialist, said.
Sugarcane production declined 42.3% year on year during the second quarter to 1.63 million metric tons (MMT), according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The SRA said the P6-million facility has the potential to reduce the cost of fertilizer inputs for sugarcane growers. Its funded was authorized by the Sugar Industry Development Act or Republic Act 10659.
“It is actually a technology that has been used as early as the 1990s as it basically functions as prevention for plant diseases, but it is only recently that farmers were interested in using it amidst rising cost of fertilizers,” Ms. Alejandrino said.
SRA board member David Andrew L. Sanson said cane farmers were able to save about P6,000 per hectare due to the use of the BMO additive.
“The SRA can increase BMO production that we hope will be utilized by our farmers, especially the small farmers that comprise a huge chunk of our sugar producers, and make sugar farming sustainable,” Mr. Sanson added.
Last year, the SRA distributed more than 10,000 gallons of BMO to over 200 beneficiaries. It was used on up to 1,000 hectares of land planted to sugarcane.
Ms. Alejandrino said that the use of the additive promotes germination, flowering, fruition, and ripening of cane crops.
“It also improves physical, chemical, and biological environment of the soil and produces high levels of beneficial enzymes and organic acids that help build solid soil structure,” she added.
Based on the SRA’s initial estimates, raw sugar production could drop to 1.78 MMT for the 2024-2025 crop year, compared to the 1.92 MMT actual output for the 2023-2024 crop year. — Adrian H. Halili
