THE government is piloting a protocol for hybrid fertilizers to protect rice farmers from volatile prices, the Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday.
The system was devised in response to the global energy crisis resulting from the Iran war, which has disrupted oil trade in the Middle East.
“This is about protecting farmers from price volatility while keeping productivity intact,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said, stressing the need to rethink input strategies as production costs continue to rise.
Since urea production relies heavily on natural gas, the Iran War and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have spiked farm input prices.
Combining targeted chemical inputs with organic supplements can lessen local farmers‘ reliance on urea without compromising output, Tiu Laurel said. “We are optimizing accessible inputs while lowering farmers’ cost exposure.”
Hybrid fertilization is a multi-stage application method that uses specific nutrients tailored to the needs of the rice crop at every stage of its growth cycle.
Under this method, farmers apply one bag of ammonium sulfate for every 1 hectare of land during the seedbed preparation stage before transplanting.
In the first two weeks, farmers add two bags of high-nitrogen 21-0-0 fertilizer for every hectare of land to support crop growth in the early vegetative stage.
Between days 18 and 25, farmers use balanced formulations in fertilization. This includes liquid 16-16-8 and 14-14-14 fertilizers to strengthen root development and enhance nutrient uptake.
Later on, potassium-rich inputs like 17-0-17 or 0-0-60 fertilizers are used as top dressing to improve grain filling and enhance plant resilience.
One of the protocol‘s key features is the use of homemade fish amino acid, applied up to 12 times throughout the planting cycle from transplanting to before harvesting. This acts as an alternative nitrogen source, improving soil health and nutrient absorption.
“This is just one of several protocols we are testing nationwide as part of a broader push for regenerative farming aimed at eventually minimizing, if not eliminating, the use of inorganic fertilizers,” Tiu Laurel said. “The ongoing energy crisis presents an opportunity to accelerate these efforts.”
