BIOCHEMICAL (Buffalo) FERTILIZER FOR RICE

Abstract

The experiment entitled “Biochemical (Buffalo) fertilizer on rice” was conducted at the Western Mindanao State University,Zamboanga City, on June to October 2011. Efficacy test of this fertilizer was evaluated at farmer's field singly or in combination with inorganic fertilizer on lowland rice. This biochemical fertilizer is a Taiwan technology produced by Natural Active organic fertilizer factory based at Sabah, Malaysia and utilized as an effective fertilizer for African oil palm. The study was laid-out using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six treatments replicated three times. The following were the treatments: T1- control (no application), T2- full recommendation of inorganic fertilizer based on soil analysis, T3- 50% of the recommendation of inorganic fertilizer, T4- 50% of the recommended inorganic fertilizer + 50% Biochemical (buffalo) fertilizer, T5– full recommendation of Biochemical (buffalo) fertilizer and T6- full recommendation of
biochemical (buffalo) fertilizer + full recommendation of inorganic fertilizer. Results revealed that application of biochemical (buffalo) fertilizer significantly increased the yield of rice comparable to that of inorganic fertilizer. The rest of the treatments obtained similar yield as that of the control when compared using Least Significant Difference (LSD). Plant height in cm, tiller count and average number of panicles per plant were not significantly affected by the application. The significant effect on rice yield is attributed to nutrient components (NPK, trace elements amino acids and other organic materials added with beneficial soil microorganisms) of the biochemical fertilizer. This product appeared to have sufficient nutrient components for crop growth. It is recommended that this fertilizer be further evaluated to other industrial and high value crops to maximize its utilization.