Site-specific tech helps mitigate climate change

MANILA, Philippines - There are many ways of mitigating climate change and one of them is adopting what is a technique called site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). At the same time, the application of SSNM brings in higher yields while reducing the costs incurred by farmers resulting in more income for them.

This was proven in an experiment involving 42 farmers tilling some 30 hectares of cornfields in Brgy. Arubub, Jones, Isabela. From an average of five tons per hectare, the farmers were able to harvest 8-10 tons per hectare. The farmers’ cornfields were showcased during a Farmers’ Field Day.

Dr. Carmencita V. Kagaoan, chief of the Program Development Division (PDD) of the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) who was present during the farmers’ field day, said: “The cornfield showcased is farmer-managed, given that farmers know what do to maximize the full potential of their lands by applying only the right amount of fertilizer. Aside from the promise of an increased yield, what is good about the SSNM technology is that it helps in the mitigation of climate change because of the lesser use of inorganic fertilizer. The use of synthetic fertilizers contributes to the global warming as it can cause the loss of soil carbon dioxide.”

The SSNM technology is an approach that recommends the use of available organic nutrient sources and inorganic fertilizer in meeting the nutrient demand of a high yielding crop. The use of organic matter increases the water holding capacity of the soil while the use of Bio-N, a microbial soil inoculant for root and shoot growth, enhances root development of corn at the early stage resulting in well-developed rooting systems that penetrate deeper into the soil. 

An extensive root system makes the plant more resilient to environmental stress. To help farmers decide whether the crop needs additional fertilizer or not, SSNM also introduced the use of the leaf color chart (LCC), an easy-to-use and inexpensive diagnostic tool for monitoring the relative greenness of a corn leaf as an indicator of the plant’s Nitrogen status.

Orlando Lorenzana, CVIARC manager, said the SSNM technology is able to increase corn production from an average yield of five tons per hectare to 8-10 tons per hectare. “We want to show to the other farmers the potential of this technology and that by following the Package of Technology (POT), farmers will be able to achieve optimum increased in their yields. We also want to showcase this as model farm for other interested farmers. The farmer-cooperators also have good camaraderie and cooperation proving that they can work harmoniously to achieve a particular goal which is increased production and income.”

Attesting to the success of the SSNM technology is Roger Salvador, one of the farmer-cooperators of the project in Brgy. Arubub. “SSNM helped us a lot in improving our livelihood with the increases in our yields following both the two technology interventions introduced to us: SSNM with organic and SSNM with Bio-N. If you compare our previous yield, there was an increase of two-three tons/ha particularly using SSNM with Bio-N. Based on our crop cut, we even reached 9.2 tons/ha which is a big difference from the yield from farmers’ practice. With SSNM, we have higher yield and income, no wonder the farmers in Brgy. Arubub are happy.”

He added that given the current El Niño phenomenon hitting Region 2, particularly Isabela, “we are not really that affected. Loss is just about five percent which proves that SSNM is good even with drought.”

The SSNM for corn is implemented by the Department of Agriculture-Cagayan Valley Integrated Agricultural Research Center (DA-CVIARC) with funding support from the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) and the DA-GMA Corn Program in partnership with the Bureau of Soil and Water Management (BSWM), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI).