Researchers have developed a new type of microbial fertilizer capable of increasing crop output by up to 440 percent, the Council of Agriculture has announced.
Microbial fertilizers have in the past few years swept the industry, generating hundreds of millions of New Taiwan dollars in value, Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station director Tai Shun-fa (戴順發) said on Tuesday, adding that this newest discovery provides farmers with yet another option amid a growing supply.
Station researcher Chen Tai-yuan (陳泰元) said they collected microorganisms from productive organic farms across Kaohsiung and Pingtung County.
Photo: CNA
From the more than 30 types collected, researchers identified one from a rice field in Pingtung County’s Wandan Township (萬丹) that showed promise in promoting crop growth, he said.
The microbe, Bacillus velezensis KHH13, works by dissolving minerals such as phosphorus and potassium, making them more accessible to crops, he said.
The microbes can also produce indole-3-acetic Acid, or IAA, a plant growth hormone, and enzymes important to plant growth, he added.
In testing, KHH13 has proven capable of significantly increasing the net weight of a variety of leafy greens, Chen said.
For example, the weight of Chinese white cabbage rose by 80 percent, oilseed rape and celery by 190 percent, and curled lettuce by 440 percent, he said.
KHH13 can also produce compounds to compete with pathogenic organisms, improving soil health and protecting crops from damage, Chen said.
The fertilizer has already been patented domestically and licensed for nonexclusive use by Green Mountain Co, Tai said.
The agricultural supply firm in May began selling the fertilizer under the name Wandan Microbial Fertilizer (萬丹菌肥), he added.
It is also included in a subsidy program for organic fertilizers by the Agriculture and Food Agency, which covers half the retail price up to NT$5,000 per hectare, Tai said.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS