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BY
JOEL C. PAREDES
and IAN GO
SUPERSUCCESSFUL
agriculture scientists may differ in their views, but they
have one trait in common: A conspicuous urge for
perfection.
Hardly do
they realize that what is good for humanity could be a
gold mine waiting to be resuscitated from their seemingly
never-ending research work.
Take the
case of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB),
which has actually developed a handful of badly-needed
biofertilzers, most of which have been developed in the
80s, but are hardly being tapped for commercial use.
Biofertilizers can actually provide cheaper, effective and
at best locally available to the agriculture sector, which
has been importing about 85 percent of its fertilizer
needs.
If
properly harnessed, it can be developed into a P4 billion
industry, according to Dr. Nina Halos, who chairs the
Department of Agriculture’s biotechnology advisory group.
But your question is good as mine: Why are they hardly
being commercialized?
Dr. Luis
Rey Velasco admits that while they have the technology,
the State University really needed a partner to do the
business side. “I don’t think we can do it on our own.
With the government’s fiscal management system, we cannot
do the business,” he says.
But Dr.
Velasco, an entomologist, says that they are now open to
the private sector, with the price of inorganic
fertilizers soaring to unaffordable rates to the lowly
farmers. A large portion of the country’s foreign reserves
is also being used for fertilizer importation.
For
instance, he confides that they have actually started
commercializing Bio-N, an effective nitrogen supplement
for rice, corn and vegetables that can compliment, if not
substitute, the use of urea.
Bio-N,
which was developed by Dr. Mercedes Garcia and her team at
UP Biotech, is a microbial-based fertilizer mainly
composed of microorganisms isolated from the roots of the
talahib ( scientifically known as Saccharum spontaneum).
These bacteria help convert atmospheric nitrogen that can
enhance shoot growth and root development.
According
to Velasco, the university earned about P30 million in
sales last year, after it actively tapped the local
government units (LGUs) and the private sector for the
commercial use of the inoculants.
The UPLB
also found that with the use of biofertilziers, it can
replace 30 to 50 percent of the total nitrogen requirement
of rice and corn, increase their yield and make plants
healthy and green evening a drought situation or in the
presence of pests.
Bio-N
also reduced the incidence of rice tungro and corn earworm
attack in the field. But it is still necessary to apply 50
to 70 percent complete fertilizer to meet other nutrient
requirements. Bio-N’s shelf life is also only for three
months.
Pioneering efforts
According
to Dr. Marilyn Brown, the research on biofertilizers began
as early as the late 70s when local scientists ventured in
mycorrhiza research, mainly to find more economical and
natural means of improving plant growth. At that time, the
agriculture sector was already being troubled with the
high cost of inorganic fertilizers that have become major
inputs for food production.
When the
National Institutes of Biotechnology and Applied
Microbiology, or UP Biotech, were set up at UPLB in 1979,
mycorrhiza research grew rapidly and gained momentum.
UP
Biotech’s Nitrogen Fixation and Mycorrhiza Program’s goal
was to look for cheaper and locally available, but
efficient substitutes or supplements to inorganic
fertilizers.
Considerable work was done on vesicular arbuscular
mycorrhizal fungi (VAM) to improve growth, yield and
survival of crops under extreme conditions.
Brown
says that their studies on the production of inoculants
showed very promising results.
For
starters, the VAM root inoculants were developed as
effective plant-growth promoters and biocontrol agents.
VAM
assists the plant roots in absorbing water and nutrients,
reducing chemical fertilizer requirements for the crops.
It also protects the plants from root pathogens, secretes
growth-promoting substances and improves soil structure
and soil aggregation.
Mykovam,
on the other hand, was developed using the VAM species for
better absorption of nutrients and water. This soil-based
fertilizer was found effective in reforestation species
like narra, acacia, gmelina and mahogany as well as with
fruit trees like mango, coconut, guava, banana, rambutan,
papaya, citrus, lanzones, coffee and guyabano.
For
agricultural crops, Mykovam was found effective in upland
rice, corn, tomato, eggplant, onion, garlic, pepper,
cassava and sweet potato.
But
despite their initial success in the application of the
VAM technology in crop production, it suffered several
constraints from common practice, considering that
potential users were not able to handle inoculum
production themselves.
There
were also no producers of large amounts of inoculum who
can guarantee low cost of production.
Dr. Brown
herself has a biofertilizer to her credit, the “Brown
Magic,” which has been proven effective for in-vitro
cultured orchid seedlings and provides the nutrients
necessary for their growth.
Brown
Magic, which is composed of chopped fungal endomycorrhiza,
also serves as a biological control agent against root
infection and other harmful pests and diseases. With the
root covered with fungus, pathogenic organisms will have
to fight the fungus first before penetrating the roots.
It’s not organic
Dr. Nina
Halos insists that biofertilizers are not organic.
“It’s not
organic, organic mga patay na yan. What you need sa
biofertilizer, it should be living,” says Halos.
Another
biofertilizer developed at UPLB is Nitro Plus. Dr. Ma.
Lourdes Sison was part of the team that developed it,
together with Ms. Fe Torres and their former chief, Dr.
Erlinda Paterno.
Sison,
who studied Soil Science at UPLB and got her Master’s
degree in Soil Chemistry at UPLB’s College of Agriculture
also has a M Ed. and Ph.D in Soil Microbio-logy. She has
been with Biotech since 1981 and describes Nitro Plus as a
legume inoculant. She quickly points out that Dr. Paterno
has been doing research on Nitro Plus even before she
joined them in 1981.
She says
that when Biotech was starting, among the biotechnology
programs was biofertilizers, specifically nitrogen
fixation and mychorriza, and they concentrated on nitrogen
fixation by food legumes.
“Itong
Nitro Plus contains a bacterium called rhizobia which
fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere so that it could be
utilized by the plant,” Sison says.
“This is
for legumes specifically, kasi po yung rhizobia kaya
specific, pumapasok siya sa ugat ng legume kasi po
symbiotic yung relationship. The plant benefits from the
bacteria, the bacteria benefits from the plant. Yung
nitrogen fixation, it is a process of utilizing the
nitrogen from the air so that it could be made available
to the plant,” she adds.
“Kasi
‘yung nitrogen from the air gas po iyon e. So, hindi po
siya maa-absorb ng plant, so it has to be made in the
available form, which is ammonium or nitrate. So the
process is called nitrogen fixation, biological nitrogen
fixation, kasi mayroon din po tayong nitrogen fixation na
chemical,” Sison explains.
According
to her, in the process, the plant needs little, and there
are instances when the plant needs totally no fertilizer
because the presence of rhizobia that causes the symbiotic
relationship, creates something that resembles a nitrogen
factory in the soil.
Asked why
they chose legumes, she replies: “Very specific po kasi,
kasi yung organism po kasi rhizobia.” She elaborates that
they chose to isolate it because it is the best.
On
soybean, Sison said that the plant could thrive on Nitro
Plus alone. She said that the plant grows “even better
than when you use fertilizer.”
“And,
besides, if you add fertilizer together with the inoculant,
the plant will be lazy to do the fixation,” says Sison.
In other
countries, Sison says, there are also products like Nitro
Plus and rhizobia that are popular in Australia, Brazil,
the United States and even Thailand, with Australia having
the most advanced product so far.
Sison
says that our Nitro Plus is at par with the products of
other countries.
“Competitive kasi depende po yun sa local conditions.
Kanya-kanya pong strain iyan, e. Kami kinuha namin best
strains namin, sila din mayroon din silang best strain
nila. Depende doon sa location syempre sa soil nila, sa
climate nila,” the chemist says, “ganito din sa
Philippines.”
Ready for commercialization
Sison
said that Nitro Plus is “almost ready for
commercialization if there is a private taker.” She points
out that there are many orders but it is only they who
manufacture Nitro Plus because of the absence of a private
taker.
She says
that their research work has been smooth. Now, she adds,
they have even developed liquid carriers.
“The
carrier is very well studied, the performance in the field
very well studied, the survival in the soil, the
persistence, very well studied na din po iyan,” Sison
says.
Another
Biotech-developed biofertilizer is Biogroe, a solid-based
microbial plant-growth promoter that contains plant growth
promong bacteria (PGPB). PGPB is a root-associated
bacteria which influence root growth by producing plant
and hormones and provide nutrients in soluble form.
According
to Lilia Fernando, a University Research Associate (URA)
at Biotech, Biogroe already has plenty of buyers and has
already been used on rubber, black pepper and sugarcane.
“ Sa
sugarcane, mataas yung cane yield saka sugar yield niya,”
she says. Fernando started working as a chemist at
Biotech in 2001.
“Diretsong ito na yung work ko yung sa plant hormones from
plant growth promotion,” she states.
According
to her, it was Dr. Erlinda Paterno, a professor and
microbiologist who discovered the technology involved in
Biogroe. The bacteria in Biogroe was isolated way back in
the 1970s, and the technology and packaging started in
2000.
Fernando
says that Biogroe’s PGPB contents serve as an alternative
to rooting hormones like hormex for ornamental and
flowering plants.
“Parang
vitamins din po ng tao. Vitamins for plants. Parang ganoon
po. For all crops po yan, may vegetables, may ornamentals,
mga plantation crops, sa rice. Marami po siyang gamit,
parang vitamins nga po yan ng tao na kailangan nating
lahat. Ganoon din po sa plants,” she says.
She
describes how their research process went. “So una po muna
sa laboratory stage yan. Inalam namin if nagpo-produce po
siya ng mga hormones na ito, tapos to what level, tapos
test po sa crops.”
“Nag-try
muna kami sa lab scale sa growth room. Sinubukan namin
yung crops like seed pepper, tomato, nakita namin ano
talaga, in terms ng growth ng plants, compared doon sa mga
uninoculated crops or plants, mas mataas yung plant
height. Nag-test din kami sa greenhouse then sa field,
using the same crops. Convincing po ang yield,” she
continues.
Farmers’ practice
Fernando
says that they also employ the so-called farmers’
practice.
“Tine-train po naming yung farmers’ practice. Yung
full-recommended rate ng fertilizers niya, tapos naglagay
kami ng Biogroe plus full recommended, saka may half ng
recommended rate. May three-fold increase sa ampalaya, in
terms of yield, doon sa Biogroe plus half ng fertilizer
rate. So nare-reduce yung fertilizer application.”
“Kapag
full Biogroe, walang significant difference doon sa
farmers’ practice. Halos pareho lang. Tapos, ano po, di
ba yung mga farmers ginagawa niyan seedling muna then ita-transplant
sa field. Nakita namin na earlier yung seedling growth
kapag inoculated ng Biogroe, so parang one week earlier
pwede na nilang i-transplant sa field yung seedlings.”
In
ornamentals, she said that they have observed that rooting
is faster when inoculated with Biogroe.
According
to Fernando, so far UP Biotech has been the sole promoter
of Biogroe. Like Nitro Plus, Biogroe still does not have a
prívate taker.
She added
that they still want to test Biogroe on other crops
because the formulation differs for every crop.
“ Kasi
may four formulations po kami for Biogroe. Iba-iba po yung
laman niyang plant hormones, parang iba-iba yung
composition. Bawat crop iba-iba yung amount ng plant
hormones na kailangan niya. So may, iba-iba kaming
formulation. Tapos tine-test din namin sa crops kung ano
ba talaga yung mas effective. Tapos tumitingin din kami ng,
halimbawa po sa iba-ibang soils. Ano ba yung mas effective
na formulation?”
Fernando
likens the improvement of their product to a powdered
detergent brand. “ Parang Tide Ultra, ini-improve din
namin ‘yung product.”
Fernando
says that the Philippines still uses imported synthetic
materials for Biogroe, and she explains why.
“Mas mura
actually kapag isi-synthesize siya ng lab than ipo-produce
siya. Kasi karamihan po ng mga plant hormones na ito ay
ini-extract nila from plants. Mas matrabaho po iyon mas
magastos. So, usually yung mga chemist from foreign labs
mas madali kung synthetic na. Tayo bibilhin natin kasi
wala naman tayong facilities.”
Asked if
they still intend to develop a synthetic variety, she
answers: “Hindi na po. Ang gagawin natin
environment-friendly pa siya.”
She says
that the success rate would be comparable to the synthetic
kind. “Wala naman pong gaanong difference tingin ko in
terms of rooting, sa hormex, except na cheaper, syempre
hindi tayo mag-i-import.”
From
the tree of life
Dr.
Lorele Trinidad, who got her BS Chemistry and MS in
Microbiology from UPLB, has been with Biotech since 1983.
She was part of the agriculture program tasked to develop
biofertilizers and among those who developed Cocogro.
“Yung
inoculums, yung microbial culture, inisip naming gamitan
ng coconut water para mas makatipid sa culture medium. Ang
original kasi niyan si Dr. Juanita Mamaril,” she recalls.
She served Dr. Mamaril’s research assistant until the
latter retired in 1998.
“Later,
pinag-aralan namin na maraming nutrients yung coconut
water, so nag-shift from culture medium, naging siya mismo
yung focus. Inisip namin na ang daming coconut water na
nasasayang so i-utilize na talaga siya para hindi maka-contaminate
sa environment. Kasi ‘pag tinapon mo yan masisira yung
body of water,” she says.
They
thought about using coconut water.
“Extract
mo ‘yung most important nutrients niya, yung pinakamahal.
And we thought of getting growth hormones. Mayroon siyang
sugar, mayroong vitamins, pero compared to growth hormones
mas mura ‘yun.”
Win-win situation
Trinidad says that it is a big boost to coconut farmers.
“Win-win
situation ‘yan. You deal with the coconut wastewater.
Hindi ka na magbabayad for treatment and then may nakuha
ka pang economic return kasi mayroon kang high value
product.”
What
started being used in backyards for orchids and flowering
plants later shifted to seed germination and was used in
tissue culture.
“Mayroon
kasi kaming tissue culture for banana, ginamit naming
siyang substitute growth hormones. Halos lahat ng
ginagamit nating growth hormones ay imported so mahal.
Minsan P1,000 per milligram. Kaya, if we can concentrate
growth hormones from coconut water, sa halip na mag-import
tayo gagamit tayo ng local product and then we also help
yung coconut farmers natin,” Trinidad says.
The
research on Cocogro was stopped when Dr. Mamaril retired
in the mid-90s. Trinidad then went on a study leave.
“When I
returned, maraming nagde-demand kasi na-test na nila
although this is not really on a commercial scale. May
nilabas kami para nga lang ma-test. Yung mga bumili na
orchid growers bumabalik,” Trinidad says.
“Ngayon
due to demand kailangang ituloy yung research due to
demand. Kailangang ituloy yung next phase, which is
purification, kasi yung una is a crude mixture,” she adds.
Cocogro
does not have Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA)
license. Trinidad says that what the research they do is
only on a laboratory scale because going large-scale
requires a huge financial input.
“Kailangan mong ipa-approve sa FPA. So, yung mga testing
ibabayad mo ‘yan sa ibang accredited researcher. Five
years ago that’s P80,000 per run. E dalawa, dry and wet
season. We don’t have the money. So, parang ito kung ano
lang ang mabenta ‘yun lang ang babalik.”
Trinidad
is proud that though they have not gone large-scale, they
have been getting inquiries from all over the Philippines.
“For the
licensing medyo malaking pera ang kailangan pero we are
getting inquiries as far as Mindanao, mayroon sa Samar,
Visayas yung mga coconut growers natin. Na-dyaryo kasi one
time through a PCARRD press release that we already have
this technology of concentrating growth hormones from
coconut water, so ang tendency lahat ng desiccated coconut
factories na nagta-tapon ng tubig, mahal kung ipapa-treat
mo ang coconut water. So naghanap sila ngayon kung anong
technology ang pwedeng gamitin sa coconut water. Isa is
for vinegar, pero ang mura mura at labor intensive.”
She says
said that there is still much to be done. “Kailangang
hanapin yung range ng effectivity niya. Nagamit siya for
vegetables, seed germination, maliliit na seeds, mabilis
siya. Lately tine-test namin siya sa mga recalcitrants,
yung mga low germinating seeds na mahirap ibenta ng seed
company. ‘Yun ang target namin. May results din kami for
rooting. Yung ornamentals natin na cuttings na kailangan
mag-root, maganda din yung response. Ang karamihan ng
gumamit ay ornamentals. Sa orchidarium.”
“It’s a
crude mixture of growth hormones. So may growth hormones
na good for rooting, good for shooting, so kung mga
vegetable seeds maganda yung shooting niya, maganda yung
germination niya. In the first place, kung maganda ang
germination mo, mas maraming tumutuloy na halaman tapos
may headstart siya mas malaki agad,” she concludes. |
