Ilocano Farmers Case Study

Extent of the knowledge and practices of Ilocano farmers as to nutrient management

Soil infertility is one of the treats and major challenge in the agriculture sector caused by antropogenic factors (Tejada, 2008). The indiscreet used inorganic fertilizer, mismanagement and misconception in balancing soil nutrients may lead to degradation of soil quality. The knowledge in integrated nutrient management is a valuable foundation in addressing soil quality concerns. In this study, the recommended nutrient management practices serves as indicators to measure the extent of knowlegde and practices of Ilocano Rice Farmers in nutrient management.

Table 4.a. on page ___ shows that on the grand mean, the extent of knowledge to nutrient management is describe by the respondents as knowledgeable. This is backed-up by the weigthted mean of 3.23. This could mean that farmers are perhaps aware of providing proper nutrition to makes the

This implies that transplanting the seedling at 7 to 21 days old offer faster recovery of the rice root system. As a result, leaves are rapidly regenerating since the function of the roots resume immediately increasing plant height and tillers. This goes to show that roots could absorb enough water, light and nutrients after transplanting which resumes rapid growth and development. In the compative study of Vasudevan et al. (2014), they observed that a 20 days old rice seedling produces a maximum seed yield of 41.4 q/ha while a 30 days old rice seedling generates a yield of 38.69 q/ha. Meanwhile, Reuben et al (2016) noted that the practice of transplanting young rice seedlings at age of 8- 16 days were reported to yield numerous grains per panicles and tillers. The number of grains produced at this age ranges from 202 to 224 resulting to rice yield of 8 tonnes per