The Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) promotion of preventive biotechnology in agriculture over the past few years has not only helped the environment, but also improved harvest yield and quality, and enabled farmers to save on expenses, the agency said.
Overuse of fertilizer has led to excessive concentrations of phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium in the soil, made nutrients unable to be absorbed by crops and is the main source of nutrient pollution in waterways, the EPA said.
The agency began developing biocoal and biofertilizers in 2019 in collaboration with National Taiwan University, and found that they could help farmers reduce fertilizer use by 20 to 50 percent, as well as decrease nutrient pollution, Department of Water Quality Protection Director Yen Hsu-ming (顏旭明) said.
Photo: CNA
The EPA has chosen areas around the Fei Tsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) and Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) to promote the use of biofertilizers, Yen said.
Research has shown that photosynthetic bacteria can aid crop growth, and researchers have been teaching farmers how to harvest or cultivate their own bacteria, said Kuo Yang-cheng (郭楊正), a researcher at the Food Industry Research and Development Institute’s Bioresource Conservation and Research Center.
The use of biofertilizer has cut down on 20 to 70 percent of phosphorous loss, boosted field production by 7 to 24 percent and reduced fertilizer costs for farmers by 15 to 41 percent, Yang added.
Tan Ming-ta (覃明達), owner of a farm in Taoyuan’s Fusing Township (復興), said that he was very cautious at first, only using one-fifth of his land to trial biofertilizers.
However, he said he was pleasantly surprised to find that the section of his peach orchard where biofertilizers had been used yielded 20 percent more fruit and the fruit was also larger.
This has led to his sales increasing 20 to 30 percent, Tan said, adding that he would use biofertilizers for all of his crops next season and would recommend the product to other peach farmers in the Lalashan (拉拉山) area.
In addition to promoting the use of preventive biotechnology, the EPA said it aims to set up more artificial wetlands, grassed waterways and green belts to mitigate nutrient pollution in water bodies.
Additional reporting by CNA
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