Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into a Resource - UNEP

around 700,000 mt of chemical fertilizer and imported about 1,237 thousand
mt, about half of which was urea. More than half the chemical fertilizer applied
in the Philippines (52%) is used for rice and corn.
Organic fertilizer production began in 1974, but in 1978 organic fertilizers
were less than 1% of total fertilizer sales, rising to 1.34% in 1992. As of 1993,
there were 26 licensed manufacturers of organic fertilizers, and 15 processors
of guano phosphate, phosphate rock, and soil conditioners (PCARRD info
sheet 1996). These figures may have increased by 1996, since a number of
producers of compost who use the Rapid Composting Technology have
obtained licenses from the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA).
Disadvantages to Developing Countries
These three major factors — increased labor demand, inadequate
nitrogenous materials and lack of water for composting — made transfer of
the technology difficult in the first three years of the program. The emphasis at
that stage was on convincing farmers to produce their own compost. Mass
production centers for the activator were established in almost every province,
so the activator would be easily available to farmers.
The two biggest problems encountered in doing this was firstly, the
registration of the compost product as organic fertilizer by the Fertilizer and
Pesticide Authority (FPA), and secondly, securing a license for the compost
producers from FPA to allow them to produce compost commercially. The
rules and regulations regarding efficacy trials for their compost were not
immediately clear to the compost producers. This lack of proper information
posed great problems in marketing, and was a constraint to further expansion
of commercial compost production.
Example of Real Life Applications
Institute of Biological Scinces,
University of the Philippines
Los Banos, Laguna
Suppliers:
Philippines' Department of Agriculture, Regional Field Unit No. 10, Cagayan
de Oro City - Northern Mindanao
Institute of Biological Sciences (IBS) and the National Institute of Molecular
Biology and Biotechnology (BIOTECH) of the University of the Philippines in
Los Banos (UPLB), College, Laguna; and at the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST).
Sources:
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