BoI planning push to encourage more biofertilizer use in rice, corn farming

THE Board of Investments (BoI) said on Tuesday that it will support a biofertilizer company in its capacity expansion by helping to promote the expanded use of its products and encouraging investment to develop the industry.

“Encouraging potential technology adaptors to invest in this industry, the BoI and other stakeholders aim to strengthen the information dissemination and education campaign for farmers to facilitate the shift from traditional fertilizer to biofertilizer,” the BoI said in a statement.

The BoI added that it will support the commercialization of the Bio-N fertilizer product which promises to raise crop yields by 11%.

The BoI said the campaign will be undertaken in collaboration with Laguna-based AgriSpecialist, Inc. (ASI), a Laguna company.

“Both BoI and AgriSpecialist agreed (on the importance of) having an industrialization partner from the beginning of the research and development process,” it added.

ASI President Mario Labadan, Jr. said farmers should be made aware of the advantages of using biofertilizer, which will be a domestically produced product.

According to the BoI, about five to six 200-gram sachets of the biofertilizer product can replace two 50-kilogram bags of urea per hectare planted to rice. The product has the potential to save producers about P10,000 per hectare.

ASI said that it aims to become the first commercial-scale manufacturer of biofertilizer.

Expansion plans for its Laguna plant will result in sufficient capacity to supply “100% of the country’s biofertilizer requirement for the lands planted to rice and corn.” — Adrian H. Halili