TABUK CITY, Kalinga – As though the destructive Golden Kohol (golden apple snails) and the swamp eel which invaded their farms in the 80s and starting 2012, respectively, were not enough burden, farmers in some barangays in the Tabuk Valley have been contending with a new annoyance since two cropping seasons ago: the duckweed.
The plant which resembles an open cabbage plant is touted to be a source of food for both human and animals and also could be turned into organic fertilizer among other benefits.
But all these are irrelevant to Robert Tuluan, 35, who has been spending at least three days to clear the 2.5 hectare in barangay San Julian he is tilling from the weeds each cropping season.
He said that if he does not eliminate the plants, they would blanket the field by the time fertilizer is applied to the crop and the weeds would prevent the fertilizer granules from reaching the soil.
Tuluan said that the weed spreads rapidly and that plowing the field without eliminating them first would only spread them further because they float on the water.
He said that manually gathering and disposing the duckweed is still the best solution because the herbicide Gramoxone which is supposed to kill it could only affect the part of the plant above the ground which does not terminate the life of the plant.
Marvin Bumatang, 35, also resorts to manual picking taking around a day to clean the 1.3 hectares he is tilling in barangay Dilag because the of the ineffectivity and high cost of the Gramoxone.
Bumatang said that a liter of Gramoxone costs P1,200.00.
City Agriculturist Julibert Aquino points to the tediousness of turning the duckweed into feed for livestock or organic fertilizer as the reason that local farmers treat the plant as a nuisance.
“Local farmers have a tendency for quick remedies so they would just buy feeds or fertilizer instead of take advantage of the abundant natural resource,” Aquino said.**By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.
