Carlito Balingbing, Reianne Quilloy, and Joseph Sandro   |  Feb 17, 2016

RICE TODAY

Figure: Substituting fertilizer for salt and sand. In Europe, the POLARO is used to spread salt and sand for better road traction. In Asia, this lightweight machine can be attached to a four-wheel undercarriage for fertilizer and crop care application. (Photo: Isagani Serrano, IRRI)

In addition to water, fertilizer is also an important input in rice production on the irrigated lowlands of Asia. But, unlike water, which usually flows naturally for even distribution onto farmers’ fields, the uniform application of fertilizer is laborious and difficult.

Fertilizer boosts rice yield when applied in the right amount and at the right time. Applying it uniformly ensures an even distribution of nutrients to the rice crop. However, for years, uniform application has been a big obstacle for most rice farmers and even on the Zeigler Experiment Station of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. Although fertilizer spreaders are commonly available, they usually are designed for use in large fields pulled by big tractors.

In 2014, an informal meeting between Walter Zwick, IRRI collaborator in Cambodia, and Helmut Lehner, owner and managing director of Lehner Agrar GmbH in Germany, led to a consultation with Martin Gummert, IRRI’s postharvest expert. during which Mr. Lehner made an offer to the IRRI postharvest team to test POLARO, a battery-operated mechanical spreader developed by the German company for applying sand and salt onto highways, but it works just as well for fertilizer distribution on small rice farms. Mr. Lehner donated one unit to IRRI to assess its performance against manual fertilizer application.

“We thought that this mechanical spreader had tremendous potential to help smallholder farmers obtain a uniform spread of granular-based fertilizers in the field,” Engr. Gummert said.

After three cropping seasons, the postharvest team measured up to a 9% yield increase, with urea (46-0-0) and complete fertilizer (14-14-14), when the POLARO spreader was used. It also took less time to apply the fertilizer using the mechanical spreader. Manual application took approximately 2 hours per hectare, whereas mechanical application using a tractor, running at 2 kilometers per hour, took 1.3 hours per hectare. Another field trial was done for one cropping season in Battambang, Cambodia. Compared with manual application, there was a 5–6% yield increase with the POLARO spreader.

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Partnership for sustainable rice production
The partnership between IRRI and Lehner GmbH also benefits IRRI’s partners, who are now able to verify another technology for mechanized rice production with their clients and other rice consumers through more sustainably produced rice.

See more http://ricetoday.irri.org/irri-and-german-equipment-company-forge-a-win-win-collaboration/