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[tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>]

They can get from companion crops such as sunflowers, azolla.

When that idiot Norman Borlaug started touting his "Green Revolution" 
based on chemical fertilizer, it was immediately evident it would enrich 
chemical companies, enslave poor farmers to them, and destroy pest and 
disease-resistant cultivars developed across thousands of years.


        
        

BUSINESS FEATURE - AGRICULTURE

Wild sunflower a rich source of nitrogen for rice

The Philippine STAR 12/26/2004
It’s the Yuletide Season, and at this time of the year wild sunflowers 
come a-bloom in the northern Luzon highlands.

We remember that Christmas time a noted lady journalist friend, Jullie 
Yap Daza, devoted a whole inspiring column about the radiant yellow 
sunflowers adorning the long and winding road to Baguio City.

And was it Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who once wrote: "I see the world 
in a grain of sand, and beauty in a wild flower."

But there’s more to wild sunflowers than being a sight to behold by 
nature lovers.

Among farmers in the Cordillera, it is a rich source of nitrogen for rice.

For centuries, farmers in Ifugao and Mountain Province has been using 
this plant scientifically known as Tithonia diversiflia to fertilize 
rice, vegetables, and sweet potato.

The fertilizer value of wild sunflower has been confirmed in recent 
researches done by the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice 
Research Institute (DA-PhilRice).

In one study, PhilRice noted that the yield of rice fertilized with 0.54 
tons per hectare of fresh sunflower leaves was compatible with the yield 
of crops fertilized with azolla (known as a "fertilizer plant") and 
40-60 nitrogen kilogram per hectare and azolla.

PhilRice researchers have found that sunflower leaves have high nitrogen 
content (2.9 percent oven dry weight) and that fresh sunflower can given 
an equivalent of 60 N kg/ha.

In rice seedbeds, wild sunflower is incorporated into the seedbed to 
serve as fertilizer for the rice seedlings. From 15 to 25 pieces of 
sunflower tops are needed to fertilize a square meter of the seedbed.

In irrigated lowland rice paddy, sunflower is applied eight days before 
transplanting or during the last harrowing to maximize the nitrogen it 
releases.

Aside from being locally available and for free, wild sunflower easily 
decomposes (7-10 days) and also hastens the decomposition of other 
weeds. In sloping mountains, it helps prevent soil erosion.

Wild sunflower can likewise be used as pest control agent, floor polish, 
and firewood. In the Cordillera, it has been reported to control aphids 
in vegetables and earthworms in rice paddies.* /– RA/*