Agriculturist recommends soil analysis before fertilizers
By Danny O. Sagun
Pangasinan (12 October) -- Farmers have been urged to do their farms undergo soil analysis to accurately determine agricultural inputs they need like fertilizers.
Dalisay Moya, assistant provincial agriculturist, noted that some farmers do not actually realize the full potential of their farms because of the use of wrong inputs in their farms. She said that agricultural lands tend to become acidic as time passes after continued use of chemical or inorganic fertilizers.
The soil analysis will determine the proper inputs needed by the farms, she said. She asked farmers to just contact their municipal agriculturist on the matter.
Prolonged use of chemical fertilizers proves disadvantageous in the long run as harvests become smaller year after year, Moya said. For that reason, she added, the agriculture department encourages farmers to turn to organic fertilizers which can be made out of indigenous materials in the farm like hay, leaves, etc.
Moya discouraged farmers from burning the hay as is the usual practice in the fields after harvest time.
Organic and chemical fertilizers may also be mixed or combined, she also said.
Meanwhile, the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority asked consumers to buy farm inputs only from licensed dealers to avoid falling prey to expired or fake products.
FPA provincial head Joseph Andre Martinez said that stores cannot just sell fertilizers and pesticides as the owners are obligated to secure a license from FPA. "Dapat huwag ihalo," he said, referring to the practice by some variety stores of selling poultry supplies like animal feeds side by side with fertilizers and pesticides.
He said the presence of fake pesticides and fertilizers in the market is minimal. "Meron but not very rampant," he told the Pantongtongan Tayo radio program of the Philippine Information Agency over Radyo ng Bayan DZMQ last Tuesday in answer to a question whether fake pesticides and fertilizers are widely sold in the market similar to the cases of recent interception of fake and counterfeit medicines.
Moya, Martinez and provincial environment and natural resources officer Rogel Pimentel were the first guests in the radio program to discuss consumerism in celebration of the Consumer Welfare Month this October which has as its theme "Enforcing Consumer Rights Towards a Progressive Philippines." (PIA-Pangasinan) [top]
