Los Baños, Laguna”•Aligned with the goal of sustaining the country’s biodiversity, an event in Valencia City, Bukidnon was held to promote the use of chemical-free and organic tools to improve plant growth production.
The recent Farms and Industry Encounters through the Science and Technology Agenda (FIESTA) on biofertilizer and biopesticide featured technologies that are accepted under organic agriculture which can contribute to the sustainability of the country’s plant production, Rose Anne M. Aya of the PCAARRD Applied Communication Division relayed to newsmen here.
The technologies, called biofertilizers and biopesticides, uses beneficial bacteria and microorganisms that help promote plant growth and development, Aya said.
The technologies featured in the event are funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and its consortia in Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, Caraga, Central Visayas, and Ilocos regions.
“PCAARRD has invested more than ₱46 million in R&D to develop biofertilizers and biopesticides,” said the council’s executive director Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora, in a message conveyed in the event by Dr. Melvin B. Carlos, PCAARRD Deputy executive director for Administration, Resource Management, and Support Services.
Among these investments, Ebora said, include the development of MykoPlus, a microbial inoculant that contains beneficial bacteria that enhance crop growth and yield; mass production of biological control agents for organically grown Arabica coffee in Benguet; development of Nutrio biofertilizer for sugarcane and vegetables; and a natural fungicide from the indigenous plant Tasmannia piperita against disease infections in lettuce and in tomato.
“With these gains, we hope to empower our farmers with information on the technologies, as well as offer to interested parties, technologies that are ready for commercialization,” Ebora said.
Research initiatives on organic agriculture started since the declaration of RA 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010. The law orders the promotion, propagation, and development of the practice of organic agriculture in the country.