In the rural town of Laur, located in Nueva Ecija, Maritess Mendoza, a dedicated cultivator, has devoted a quarter of her 3.7-hectare farm to experimenting with biochar – a biological charcoal aimed at enhancing soil fertility for onions and other high-value crops (HVCs).
Mendoza, known locally for her onion crops, reveals that her venture into biochar use had returned additional profits of P60,000 (US$1,097) from a yield of 16 tonnes of onions, surpassing the traditional 10-tonne harvest achieved using commercial fertilisers, reported by The Manila Times.
Emboldened by her successful foray into organic soil amendments, Mendoza expressed her intent to continue using biochar not only for her onions but aims to include corn and vegetables in her new five-hectare farm in the approaching sowing season.
In a similar vein, Lauro Medina, who farms a 2,500 square metre rice field in San Leonardo town, also utilised biochar on a part of his land. The result was an electrifying 18% boost in palay (unhusked rice) production, resulting in a yield of up to 5.9 tonnes. From his visual testimonial, Medina indicated that areas of his land untreated with biochar showed slow declining yields when compared to regions where he had used biochar during his farm trial sessions.
Singaporean company Alcom Pte. Ltd. introduced biochar to Nueva Ecija’s provincial government in August 2022, forming a flourishing partnership with Gov. Aurelio Umali, Alcom’s founder Prateek Tiwari, and Alcom’s global lead for carbon Siddarth Kaul, potentiated by the legal expertise of Rodeo Nuñez, the managing director of Alcom-Philippines.
The soil enhancer, now branded as ‘Nuevachar,’ is strategically planned to play a pivotal role in environmental conservation, helping to combat the imminent crisis of global warming and climate change. It will also function as an educational tool to inform farmers about low-cost farming methods while embracing more contemporary farming techniques.
According to Nuñez, the provincial government’s biochar processing facility in Palayan City has so far generated five tonnes of biochar. Each bag of biochar weighs in at 18 kilogrammes, making for a total of 27,777 bags produced. In a highly awaited move, the processing facility is currently on standby for the issuance of carbon credit certification after successfully passing an audit from the International Registry.
Upon this certification, Alcom-Philippines will make history as the first-ever biochar product registrant in the country. With great excitement, the provincial administrator Alejandro Abesamis recently greenlit the immediate distribution of the 27,777 bags of biochar across 27 towns and five cities of Nueva Ecija.
Article Originally Posted on Thaiger
