Some farmers are struggling to increase their crops since most farmlands have low levels of soil fertility, according to an official from the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Based on the DA’s national soil fertility mapping project, 82% of the farmlands have moderate to low soil fertility levels, and the degree keeps on declining, said the chief agriculturist of the DA’s Bureau of Soil and Water Management Dr. Karen Bautista.

In a news forum, Bautista said that farmlands had moderate levels of soil fertility 10 years ago, however, due to unsustainable agricultural practices degradation has been present in the past years.

There is another difficulty that farmlands face which is urea and other imported synthetic fertilizers, Bautista added.

The contents of the major nutrients in our farmlands like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are low and our farmers are becoming dependent on inorganic fertilizers or imported synthetic fertilizers, Bautista pointed out.

That is why in order to increase agricultural crop output, the government is pursuing balanced fertilization.

Bautista explained that the mixture of organic and biofertilizers will grow more agricultural output.

We have 100-hectare technology demonstration areas in the whole country and we encourage farmers to use the balanced fertilization strategy in order to meet the use of synthetic imported fertilizers, as well as, to promote the alternative outputs which are produced locally, Bautista said.

The balanced fertilization strategy can also solve the matter of expensive fertilizers and other farm inputs.

Bautista said that before the pandemic, synthetic fertilizer ranges around ₱1500 each bag compared to ₱3000 to ₱3500 during the Ukrainian-Russian war and after the pandemic.

Baustista pointed out the importance of the right fertilization practice of farmers saying that some are solely dependent on inorganic fertilizers without using organic fertilizers and other soil amendments. She also said that imported synthetic fertilizers can contribute acid to the soil if used wrongly.

According to Bautista, the country’s national yield per hectare of rice for 2022, which is 4.11 metric tons per hectare, can be increased by using a balanced fertilization strategy and crop diversification.