By Christine Fabro
The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Saturday, May 20, said most farmlands in the Philippines have low soil fertility due to “unsustainable practices.”
According to the DA-Bureau of Soil and Water Management (BSWM) Chief Agriculturist Dr. Karen Bautista, the degree of soil fertility in the country continued to decrease over the years.
“Ten years ago, nasa…moderate levels of soil fertility iyong ating mga kalupaan. Patuloy po na nadedegrade. Nagkakaroon po ng degradation over the years due to some unsustainable agricultural practices,” Bautista said.
Citing their national soil fertility mapping project, Bautista stressed that some 82% of the farmlands in the country have moderate to low levels of soil fertility.
The chief agriculturist added that imported synthetic fertilizers such as urea lowered the level of nutrients in farmlands.
In response, Bautista said the government is “aggressively campaigning” for a balanced fertilization strategy to ramp up agricultural crop output.
“Ine-encourage po natin ang ating mga magsasaka na gumamit ng balanced fertilization strategy upang matugunan po ang mahal na paggamit ng synthetic imported fertilizers at ma-promote po natin iyong local production ng ating mga alternative inputs,” she noted. – gb