Here is good news for mungbean producers. An increase of 104.7 percent in the yield of mungbean occurred after a three-month-old carrageenan plant-growth promoter (PGP) was used.
The technology was developed by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI). Carrageenan PGP is an oligo-saccharide produced by irradiating carrageenan solution. It is already registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority as an inorganic fertilizer for rice.
According to Fernando B. Aurigue, PNRI project leader and senior science research specialist, to utilize the benefits of carrageenan as fertilizer, PNRI conducted experiments using Carrageenan PGP on different varieties of mungbean.
Pot experiments were done on Kulabo mungbean variety, which yielded 61.3 percent when sprayed thrice with freshly irradiated carrageenan PGP. Meanwhile, an increase of 104.7 percent was achieved after using a three-month-old carrageenan PGP used as foliar spray.
Carrageenan is a polysaccharide extracted from seaweeds, particularly from carrageenophytes that are abundant in the Philippines. It is an edible natural product used as dietary supplement, gelling agent, stabilizer of toothpaste and thickener/emulsifier of ice cream, among others.
Carrageenophytes, according to Aurigue, is a marine alga. The carrageenan species that can be found in the Philippines include Eucheuma, Hypnea, Acanthophora and Kappaphycus. But the latter is the species commonly used as PGP.
Several on-farm trials were conducted in different regions in the country. In Central Luzon results of the study in the farm of Emerito C. Marasigan, a farmer-cooperator in Magalang, Pampanga, showed that NSIC Mg 2 (Pagasa 19) increased in yield from 1,353 kilograms per hectare to 1,805 kgs per hectare, or an increase of 33.4 percent.
In Cagayan Valley, on-farm trial conducted in Barangay Barsat Pequeño, San Mateo, Isabela, using Pagasa 7, showed an 86.9 percent increase in yield at one-half RRG and Carrageenan PGP compared with the farmers’ practice of seed broadcasting without inoculant.
Field trial in NSF Seed Production Area in Barangay Bay, Los Baños, Laguna, using Pagasa 3 showed an increase in yield from 1,049.70 kgs per hectare to 1,134.09 kgs per hectare when Carrageenan PGP was supplemented to farmer’s practice.
On the other hand, for Pagasa 7, the yield more than doubled from 710.45 kgs per hectare to 1,497.60 kgs per hectare when Carrageenan PGP was supplemented to farmer’s practice.
In Northern Mindanao Pagasa 7 was used for the field trial in the Northern Mindanao Agricultural Crops and Livestock Research Complex of the Department of Agriculture in Barangay Dalwangan, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.
When carrageenan PGP was supplemented to farmer’s practice, an increase in yield from 312 kg per hectarec to 392 kg per hectare was realized.
The use of Carrageenan PGP for mungbean also gave the following results: more branches, more flowers which became pods, longer pods with more seeds, larger and heavier seeds, extended flowering and pod formation, increased priming from three to six; and extensive root system and nodulation.
Given these benefits, Aurigue recommended that mungbean farmers use carrageenan PGP as supplement to their practice.
Image credits: Applied Communication Division/PCAARRD