Untapped

Four decades later, one of the most promising products to emerge from that vision is still waiting to be fully recognized.

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of its scientists and technicians."

It is called Bio N. It is a microbial inoculant developed by Filipino scientists, designed to help farmers grow healthier crops while reducing their dependence on costly synthetic fertilizers.

And it may now have a second chance to change Philippine agriculture, with the son of its original champion at the helm of government.

Born of crisis, built on science

The roots of Bio N stretch back to 1979, when Marcos Sr. sought solutions to the global oil crisis and its impact on agriculture.

Fertilizer prices were rising, and the Philippines needed to become more self-sufficient in food production.

Working with National Scientist Emil Javier and other agricultural leaders, Marcos pushed for the establishment of a biotechnology program focused on Filipino-led innovations.

This led to the creation of BIOTECH, formally known as the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, housed in UPLB.

It was here that microbiologist Dr. Mercedes Garcia and her team discovered a strain of nitrogen-fixing bacteria called Azospirillum in the roots of wild talahib grass.

They cultivated it into a powder-form biofertilizer that could convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by plants.

The result was Bio N—a locally developed input that costs only P500 per kilo and can replace two bags of synthetic urea fertilizer per hectare of rice farm, thereby reducing production costs by at least P3,000 per hectare.