BACOLOD City – The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) on Friday, September 6, inaugurated its P6-million research laboratory for beneficial micro-organisms (BMO) at its La Granja Agricultural Research and Extension Center in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental.
The facility aims to supplement the supply of inorganic fertilizer used for growing sugar cane.
It was funded through the Sugar Industry Development Act to boost research and development and make the industry globally competitive and sustainable.
Ma. Theresa Alejandrino, the supervising science research specialist of SRA, said the new laboratory will help them increase BMO production that has been proven effective as a fertilizer additive, thereby reducing cost of production inputs for sugar cane growers.
She said that BMO proved helpful during the prolonged dry spell early this year because it is a foliar fertilizer and can reduce regular fertilizer inputs by about 30 percent or more.
“It is actually a technology that has been used as early as the 1990s as it basically functions as prevention for plant diseases, but it is only recently that farmers are interested in using it amidst rising cost of fertilizers,” Alijandrino added.
Based on their study, using BMO promotes germination, flowering, fruition and ripening of plants. It also improves physical, chemical and biological environmental of the soil and produces high levels of beneficial enzymes and organic acids that help build solid soil structure.
For his part, SRA Board Member David Sanson said, “Our sugar farmers were able to save as much as P6,000 on fertilizer cost for each hectare they till because they opted to try BMO.”
Sanson further said that with this new facility, “SRA can increase BMO production that will hopefully be utilized by our farmers, especially the small farmers that comprise a huge chunk of our sugar producers, and make sugar farming sustainable for them.”
Last year, SRA gave out more than 10,000 gallons of BMO to over 200 beneficiaries. With the application of 10 gallons for one hectare, more than 1,000 hectares of sugar land used BMO as fertilizer supplement./PN
