DA: Micronutrient deficiency gripping many PH farmlands
(KARLSTON LAPNITEN/FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday said it detected soil micronutrient deficiencies in farmlands across the country, which may pose a threat to food production.
“Maraming areas natin, nagiging problema na ngayon, micronutrient soil deficiency,” DA Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio Sebastian said during the “Participatory Technology Development of Natural Solutions for Philippine Agriculture” forum.
(A lot of areas now have micronutrient soil deficiency.)
Dante Delima, a former DA undersecretary and current Chief Operations Officer of fertilizer company Nature Tech, micronutrient deficiency in soil is the lack of nutrients in the ground other than nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK).
“Ang NPK kasi kung minsan, hindi ma-utilize ng husto ng halaman kung kulang o wala yung micronutrients kasi part yan ng chemical synthesis, mayroon silang chemical reaction,” said Delima.
(The NPK sometimes cannot be fully utilized by the plant if the micronutrients are lacking or absent, because it is a part of chemical synthesis, there is a chemical reaction.)
Delima and Sebastian said that food production would not be maximized if the problem persists.
“Lalong babagsak ang ani, ‘Yun, hindi na siya sustainable. At tsaka, gagastos ka ng gagastos doon sa macro, at hindi mo mamaaximize ang kanyang epekto,” said Delima.
(Harvests would fall. It is not sustainable. And then, you keep spending and spending on the macro, but you will not maximize its effect.)
The DA is currently working on testing the soil and assessing the damage,said Sebastian.
