Carrageenan as fertilizer? Test yield positive results

PULILAN, Bulacan – Rice field trials on the use of a carrageenan plant growth regulator (CPGR) in Brgy. Balatong have increased crop harvest by more than 65 percent.

The trial was conducted by a team led by Dr. Gil Magsino of the National Crop Protection Center- University of the Philippines- Los Banos and the results showed that on grain weight, application of three and six bags of chemical fertilizer per hectare, combined with 200 parts per million (ppm) of CPGR yielded higher grain weight (450 and 455 grams per 10 hills) than the farmers’ practice of applying nine bags that only yielded 275 grams per 10 hills.

Productive tillers and panicle length were also significantly higher in the test crops compared to those in the farmers’ fields. Productive tillers are the rice stems that bear the panicles with fertilized grains, while longer rice panicle is associated with producing more rice grains.

Science and Technology Sec. Mario Montejo said: “This innovation of applying seaweed as fertilizer empowers our farmers to have access to cheaper but highly effective plant growth enhancers that boils down to improved harvest and increased income, and this is the essence of what DOST is doing.”

Carrageenan is an indigestible carbohydrate ( polysaccharide) extracted from edible seaweeds. To those unfamiliar with its many uses, seaweed is commonly used as thickener or stabilizer by the food industry and also used as a binding agent for domestic products such as toothpaste and shampoo and are found in selected pharmaceutical products.

Some studies showed that when polysaccharide or carbohydrate is degraded or reduced to tiny sizes by a safe technology process called irradiation, it can be an effective growth promoter and makes rice resistant to major pests. In fact, at very small doses, it is an effective organic fertilizer.

Carrageenan as a growth enhancer offers an array of benefits that result in improved productivity. Used properly as prescribed, it makes the rice stem stronger thus improving rice resistance to lodging. It also promotes resistance to rice ‘tungro’ virus and bacterial leaf blight therefore giving farmers increased harvest.

What is good in this seaweed additive is it is compatible with the traditional practice on fertilizer application, thereby allowing easy acceptance and less resistance from farmers. It also promotes sustainable agriculture since it is environment-friendly and enhances the presence of natural enemies that fight major pests in rice fields.

Lastly, it promotes more efficient absorption of plant nutrients that enables improved growth.