JV Ejercito lauds DA’s soil testing program, backs proposed budget for soil testing
October 18, 2022
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Tuesday
commended the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its Bureau of Soils and Water
Management (BSWM) for its efforts to improve the country’s soil testing
program.
During the Senate Committee on Finance’s
hearing on the agency’s proposed budget, Ejercito said soil testing is
important in determining soil-fertilizer compatibility and boosting
agricultural production.
“Soil testing is very important to make sure
that compatible yung fertilizer, be it organic or chemical. Because of too much
chemical fertilizer, naubos na yung nutrients ng ating soil,” he said.
“From what I know, sa Thailand and Vietnam,
which learned from us before, ngayon, they are more productive in terms of
agriculture. Sa kanila, very essential and very important ang soil testing,” he
added.
DA-BSWM chief agriculturist Dr. Gina Nilo said
the agency has upgraded the facilities and equipment of all regional soil
laboratories through the National Soil Health Program.
At present, there are 43 soil laboratories
across the country, all of which are supervised, regulated, and controlled by
the DA-BSWM.
These laboratories are connected through the
Philippine National Soil Laboratory, the first of its kind in the world. The
network seeks to harmonize soil testing methods to ensure that soil data can be
compared locally and globally, Nilo said.
At the same time, the DA-BSWM has been
preparing regional soil laboratories for accreditation with the International
Organization for Standardization.
Ejercito said he is optimistic about these
developments and vowed to support the agency’s efforts to strengthen its soil
testing program.
“That’s a very welcome development [...] We
want to improve. We want to make sure na tama ang ginagawa natin. Baka mamaya,
buhos lang tayo nang buhos, import nang import ng chemical fertilizer. Iyon
pala, hindi pala compatible. Naaubos pa ang nutrients ng (soil) natin,” he
said.
“For so many years, halos bulag tayo kasi yung soil
testing natin was antiquated. So ngayon, hopefully, sana makatulong ‘yan sa
productivity,” he added.
