Free soil analysis provided for Quirino farmers to increase income, lower production cost
By Jel Santos
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has provided free soil analysis to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from barangays in Saguday, Quirino in a bid to assist them in raising the productivity of their farm outputs.
Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Jess Beth G. Quidasol explained that soil analysis is important to determine the right quantity, type, and timing of fertilizer to be applied by the farmers on their farms.
“Soil analysis is utilized to determine the average nutrient status of an area and measures the available humidity, acidity, and alkalinity of the soil,” said Quidasol.
“The quantity of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulfur, manganese, copper, and zinc available in the soil samples tested also determine the amount of fertilizer that is required,” he added.
The soil analysis was done in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture-Soils Laboratory.
Farmers, according to Quidasol, just need to submit air-dried soil samples from their farms to the DA laboratory station and come back for the results after a few days.
“At present, there are 57 soil samples reviewed from the barangays of Sto. Tomas, Tres Reyes, and Salvacion with recommended fertilizers to be used for the palay production,” said Quidasol.
He thanked the DA-Soils Laboratory team led by the chief of the regional soils laboratory Fevie Rica Ancheta for accepting the request of the ARBs to conduct the on-site soil analysis of their farms.
“This would be a great help to the ARBs to alleviate the burden on their production, especially with the inevitable increase in the price of farm inputs such inorganic fertilizers,” Quidasol reiterated.