The good thing about scientists is that they continue to come up with products for the farm that make farming easier and more profitable.
Did you know, for instance, that you can now incorporate in the corn seed that you plant the fertilizer it needs for its early growth stage? Now, you don’t have to apply basal fertilizer before planting the seeds. This simplifies the work of the farmer. Which could mean less work and expense, and the fertilizer could be more effective, too.
ROMAINE LETTUCE GROWN IN AN ABOVE-GROUND BED – At the Costales Nature Farms, crop production is maximized by utilizing every available space. Just like this long bed of Romaine lettuce. The beautifully growing lettuce plants are planted in a long bed constructed about a meter above a waterway along the boundary of the property. The bottom of the planting bed is lined with plastic to hold the rich organic growing medium. The farm is famous for its leafy salad greens that it supplies to an upscale restaurant chain in Metro Manila. It is also producing organic pork, eggs and poultry meat.
Yara Vita Teprosyn is the name of a liquid that is used to coat the corn seeds for planting. Only 150 ml is needed to coat the seeds for one hectare. The coating contains 14.6 percent nitrogen, 24.3 percent potassium and 29 percent zinc. This has a starter effect which is very important in corn production. An international seminar we once attended stressed that the first 45 days of the corn plant is the most important stage of growth so that the best care should be provided at this stage.
ANOTHER NEW FORMULATION — Mila Actyva is another new formulation that Yara has introduced in the market, especially for rice, according to Pile. He emphasized that the current practice in conventional rice farming is for the farmer to mix together different fertilizer formulations for topdressing rice. He could mix 14-14-14 with urea and 16-20-0 to achieve a balanced fertilization.
With Mila Actyva, the three major fertilizer elements are incorporated in each grain. And the interesting part is that Mila Actyva’s nitrogen content comes in two forms which is advantageous.
The first is in nitrate form. This means that the nitrogen is available to the plant immediately. The second is in ammonium form. This has to be converted into nitrate form before the plant will be able to absorb it. This will serve as the food of the plant after the nitrate form has been exhausted. This means the rice plant has a steady supply of nitrogen from start to a later stage.
The phosphorus in Actyva is also in three forms so that the supply to the plant is continuous. The first form is orthophosphate form which is the form that is readily absorbed by the plant.
The next is polyphosphate form which is available after the orthophosphate is finished. The last form is the dicalcium phosphate form which is the latest to be made available to the plant.
Cris Pile claims that the Actyva does not make the soil acidic. Also, compared to urea, Actyva is much better because in the course of applying urea in the field, about 50% of the nutrients is lost to the atmosphere.
By the way, Cris Pile will soon be writing about balanced crop nutrition in the monthly Agriculture Magazine published by the Manila Bulletin which is edited by yours truly.
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DON’T MISS THE AANI FARM TOUR — Participants in the AANI Farm Tour on Sunday, June 29, will visit three interesting destinations. First to be visited is the modern Alaminos Goat Farm of Rene Almeda and his sons Totie and Art in Alaminos, Laguna. The farm boasts of a fine herd of Saanen milk goats as well as purebred and crosses of Anglo Nubian and Boer breeds.
The other destinations are the Mapecon plant also in Alaminos, Laguna and the Ato Belen Farm in San Pablo City.
Attendees can reserve at the AANI store at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City or at the AANI Weekend Market at the FTI in Taguig City.
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