“The Effects of Using Organic Fertilizer in the Growth of

Crops in Alicia, Isabela”

Fertilizers are widely used in agriculture to maintain soil fertility and to increase

crop yields. Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin

that is applied through soil or leaves to the plants to supply nutrients essential to the

growth and productivity. Before the Green Revolution, natural and traditional farming

methods were adopted for cultivation, which involved natural methods of maintaining

soil fertility and controlling crop pests. Consequently, upon Green Revolution

commendable agricultural production has been achieved mainly due to increased use of

chemical fertilizers, pesticides and farm machinery. Fertilizers facilitated higher yields

on less crop area than without the use of fertilizers; therefore, they are considered

important elements in worldwide food production. As the population continues to grow,

more and more agricultural output will be required, and fertilizers will play a vital role

(Clark and Kelly, 2004). Soil is vital natural resource on which life supporting system of

a country and the macroeconomics development of its people depends. Soils provide

food, fodder and fuel to meet the basic needs of human and animal.

Alongside the world’s aspirations toward a sustainable future, using fertilizers and

pesticides for consultations is increasing massively. It is rarely said that many of these

chemicals are petroleum based. Warding off pests and increasing yields are benefits hard

to get without environmental costs. In this regard, the Japanese farmer and philosopher:

Ombudsman Fukoka commented in his book the one-straw revolution “When it is

understood that one loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them, the essence
of natural farming will be realized. The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of

crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings”. It also uses fossil fuels, water

and topsoil at unsustainable rate, which leads to multiple forms of environmental

degradation, including air and water pollution, soil depletion and disturbing biodiversity.

The degree of toxicity of these chemicals is high, and they are harmful for both humans

and animals. The extent of exposure to these chemicals can elevate health risks for

workers and consumers. In 1988, the world applied 137 million metric tons of chemical

fertilizers, of which US agricultural system consumed approximately 15% of them. It

was estimated that around one-third of the nitrogen applied to farmlands were absorbed

by crops, as a result, the major cause of the ‘‘dead zone’’ in the Gulf of Mexico has been

attributed to the Nitrogen that ran off croplands into the Mississippi River. Agriculture

has played a key role in the development of modern Malaysia, resulting in the country

becoming the world’s leading palm oil producer and the third largest producer of natural

rubber. Agriculture continues to make a significant contribution to national economy. In

2003, the agriculture sector registered a growth of 5.5 percent, following in importance

the manufacturing and the service sectors. In 2004, the government of Malaysia declared

the agriculture sector to be the third engine of growth. The government’s policy towards

agriculture focuses on increasing production, in order to achieve food self-sufficiency

and to develop exports in an efficient and competitive manner. For the crops sector, this

effectively means expansion and/or intensification of cultivation, resulting in an

increased need for and a more efficient use of agricultural inputs, particularly mineral

fertilizers. Malaysia imports most of its fertilizer requirements but exports large

quantities of urea fertilizer. The government provides subsidies to smallholder farmers

for the purchase of fertilizers, through farmers’ associations. Owing to the large number

of distributors and companies involved in the fertilizer trade, fertilizers are accessible to

farmers in all parts of the country, at competitive prices. Oil-palm is the crop that

consumes by far the largest quantity of fertilizer in Malaysia, as a result of the large area

planted to oil-palm, both in plantations and under the smallholders’ management system.

Other factors are the palm’s high requirements for potassium and phosphorus fixation by

the mainly acidic soils of the country. The use of organic fertilizers is increasing,

especially on vegetable farms, for environmental reasons and as a result of consumer

concern about hazards from mineral fertilizers. It is expected that, with a more efficient

management of mineral fertilizers, the adoption of site-specific fertilizer management,

integrated farming and organic farming systems, the use of mineral fertilizers will

stabilize in future. Malaysia’s agriculture sector was accorded renewed and extra

importance by the government after the economic crisis of 1997, with a particular drive

to reduce the food importation bill. The balance of trade lin the food sector in 2001 was

RM6.1 billion (US$1.6 billion). In the year 2002, Malaysia's import and export of food

was RM13 billion and RM7 billion, respectively. This represented an import deficit bill

of RM6 million. The government is promoting the use of organic fertilizers in

Malaysia for two main reasons. Firstly, organic agriculture is seen as important for

the sustainable use and management of natural resources. Secondly, in the NAP3,

organic agriculture is identified as a niche market opportunity for fruits and vegetables.

In the NAP3, the government is prepared to provide additional one-off assistance in

infrastructural development to organic farmers, in addition to eligibility for existing

credit schemes and special loans. Organic farmers will also be helped in the marketing of
their produce in the domestic and international market. In an effort to reduce the

dependence on mineral fertilizers and to move towards more natural and healthier

methods of food production the government is promoting programmes that encourage

the recycling and use of agricultural waste.

In our country alternative fertilizer was very common for us filipinos, Philippines

was known about farming . We have a large plantation in different part of Philippines. It

includes rice, corn, vegetables and other root crops that was highly exported in different

country around the world because of the quality of our products . But basically how can

we able to harvest and export those nice quality products? This was the main reason . By

using alternative fertilizers and what are those organic fertilizers that filipinos actually

using??. Waste of carabaos we alll know that carabaos was a herbivores. So basically it

only eats grasses and other green leaves . We can consider that waste if a carabao was

organix and safe for our plants there is no other harmful chemical that was mix . So

filipino farmers use the waste of a carabao as substitute fertilizer to a fertilizer that has a

chemical. But how this fertilizer become a fertilizer .these are the procedure . First thing

to do is to look dry waste of a carabao because it can be turn into pieces so when the

waste was turned into pieces it will b mix into the soil and then it will be put in there

plants as a alternative fertilizer that was 100% organic.

Organic fertilizer is one of the unpopular types of fertilizer even this fertilizer are

unpopular there are lot of benefits that we can get .During the era of our ancestor they

are already using organic fertilizer .Organic fertilizer are substance that has no chemical

input this organic fertilizer are made up from the animal manure like carabao

dung,chicken manure,bat manure etc. here in the municipality of alicia there are some
barangay's using the traditional fertilizer like barangay Atonino they are producing

organize substance like Humus plus soil conditioner where in the materials that they

used are purely organic.there are also some schools located here on Alicia are also using

organic fertilizer. Alicia national high school is one of the school that are using organic

fertilizer and also practicing the organic farming. They produce organic fertilizer through

the use of vermi production . The use of organic fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer has

both positive and negative effects on plant growth and the soil . Inorganic fertilizer are

relatively inexpensive ,have high nutrient contents and are rapidly taken up by plants .

The use of excess fertilizer can result in a number of problems such as nutrients

loss ,surface water,ground water contamination ,soil addiction or utilization of chemical

fertilizer.

The main reason why the researchers decided to conduct this study is because Alicia

is an agricultural municipality, most of the residents in the municipality are farmers. The

researchers are trying to evaluate the effects of using organic fertilizers in the growth of

crops. This study will be a big help to the farmers of the municipality of Alicia. Fertilizer

plays a vital role on the growth of plants which will affect the income of the farmers. The

researchers will use the Congregational study under exploitative research to show the

effectiveness of organic fertilizers in the growth of crops. The study will be conducted

inside Alicia, Isabela.

Jenie I. dela Cuesta

Rodencio J. Domingo

Jemaica Yvonne de Guzman

Edrian Jay Tiburcio

Godwin Tumomba