Sunday, March 16, 2008 Farmers told to go slow on fertilizers
BENGUET Governor Nestor Fongwan asked farmers to slow down on the application of chemical pesticides on their farms and start adopting efforts initiated by government agencies on helping them come up with organic crops.
Fongwan made the call as the Provincial Government embarked on an undertaking which aims to help farmers become more competitive.
"If farmers want to be competitive, they should go slow on the use of chemical fertilizers and start adopting the good agricultural practices," he said.
The Provincial Government has signed an agreement with the Bureau of Soils (BS), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for the conduct of soil analysis in farmlands in the province.
The project aims to determine the acidity and fertility of Benguet soils in order to know the recommendations which could be given to the farmers in managing their farms.
Fongwan said the project is timely as the Provincial Government is pushing for the adoption of organic-based farming in the province, one of the strategies identified to combat the effect of an open market under the World Trade Organization (WTO).
He admitted that majority of Benguet's farmlands have exceeded the normal acidity level.
"It is a glaring reality that majority of the farmlands have very high acidity level and we have to do something for us to continue to be the major producer of vegetables," he said.
Among the indications farmlands are acidic is the vulnerability of plants, like cabbage, lettuce to club root, a major disease of crucifers. (JC)
