UPLB study cites herbicide

MANILA, Philippines - The use of the herbicide Gramoxone significantly increases the revenues of Filipinos farmers while helping protect and preserve farm soil.

This was revealed in an extensive study done by several professors of the University of the Philippines in Los Banos (UPLB). The study documented the effects of the use of Gramoxone on the lives of farmers tending farms planted with leading Filipino staple crops, including sugar cane, corn, and vegetables.

The study was done by the team led by Prof. Cesar Quicoy, chairman of the UPLB College of Economics and Management, and which included UPLB assistant professors Julieta delos Reyes and Roselle Collado.

According to the UPLB team, previous studies have confirmed the effectiveness of Gramoxone in controlling weeds.

“However, there is a need to know the existing conditions of Philippine farmers who use this herbicide in order to validate and propose  more appropriate solutions to the weeds and erosion problems confronting the agriculture sector,” the UPLB team said.

The UPLB team said the study revealed that the increase in profitability is the result “of the savings in the cost of labor for land preparation and weeding during crop maintenance.”

“The use of Gramoxone reduced tillage (soil preparation through plowing or mechanized methods),” the team said. “This, in turn, resulted to reduction in labor cost,” they added.