PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 16 February) – A P250-million state-of-the-art soils laboratory at the provincial government center here will help boost palay production in the province, an expert said.
Dr. Junvie Goloran, consultant on soil health development program of the provincial government, told President Ferdinad Marcos Jr. and Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Hae Kyong Yu during their latter’s visit to the facility Friday that it is capable of physical, chemical, and biological characterization of soils using a range of advanced analytical capabilities.
The laboratory can analyze 50-100 samples per day, ensuring the release of test results in two to three days. It can analyze soils, plants, water, fertilizer, and gas samples.
It boasts a spacious laboratory with a total floor area of 1,687 square meters.
The laboratory, which is expected to significantly increase the yield of farmers in the Upland Sustainable Agroforestry Development (USAD) program of the provincial government, is the brainchild of Rep. Adolph Edward Plaza of Agusan del Sur’s second district.
In a study, the provincial government emphasized “the need to assess, know, and take care of our soil. But we can only do this if we invest in modern and state-of-the-art soil testing facilities.”
The study also noted that while there have been substantial investments in seed quality and training, there has been limited investment in soil testing and soil nutrient management.
“If your soil test results show that your farm is rich in Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium, but very poor in micronutrients, then you just need to buy the fertilizer that can increase the micronutrients in your soil,” the study highlighted.
Although the construction of the laboratory is expected to be finished next year yet, the provincial government, through USAD, has seen promising developments in using soil test technology on at least four rice-producing trial farms in the province.
The experiment, which is part of the USAD program’s soil test fertilization project, showed palay production surpassing the national average.
In the towns of Loreto and Trento, at the provincial capitol complex in Barangay Patin-ay in Prosperidad, and Bayugan City, the yield per hectare of palay (unhusked rice) increased from 3.6 tons to an average of 5.6 tons after implementing the USAD trial, Goloran, a soil scientist from Griffith University in Australia who hails from Agusan del Sur, said.
Goloran cited as a case model the three-hectare trial palay farm in Loreto managed by farmer Fred Alvizo, which was originally a peatland with low fertility and high acidity. The USAD program improved the soil fundamentals by making nutrients readily available for plant growth, he added.
Similarly, the trial farm in Trento, with a soil component akin to Loreto’s due to its proximity to the Agusan marshland, witnessed an increased yield during the cropping season in June, he said.
Even the Bayugan City trial farm, with less problematic soil, saw a substantial boost in yield to 6.8 tons per hectare, surpassing the usual yield of four tons per hectare before the trial, he said.
Goloran also educated farmers on the correct fertilizer inputs available in the local market to increase the productivity of their farms.
Marcos, in his keynote address at the 1st National Soil Health Summit at Diamond Hotel in Manila on June 22 last year, acknowledged Plaza’s advocacy on soil health analysis through the modern soils laboratory, stressing the importance of implementing innovative measures to address the growing problems of soil degradation, acidification, and pollution in the country’s soils.
“Therefore, I cannot emphasize enough how significant and influential this First National Soil Health Summit is,” Marcos said in his speech.
Officials from the Australian Embassy and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), arrived here last October 11 for an in-depth review of the USAD program.
Australia and the Philippines have signed a memorandum of understanding on a “national soil health strategy” that seeks to raise agricultural production in the country. (Chris V. Panganiban/MindaNews)
