Muñoz, Nueva Ecija-Before, farmers had two options - the use of compost or organic fertilizer or the or the chemically-induced and more expensive inorganic fertilizer.

A recent breakthrough in biotechnology now offers a third option: The use of a biofertilizer to complement plant stimulants for increased agricultural farm productivity while reducing health risks to both farmers and end-users or consumers.

The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and Arnichem Corp. recently came up with Vital N biofertilizer, a friendly bacteria-based fertilizer that guarantees increased productivity.

Vital N was scientifically proven to be environment-friendly and economical. It also guarantees a good harvest, especially for rice and corn farms says Dr. Ponciano M. Halos, chairman of the Board of Arnichem, manufacturer of the first biofertilizer in the world.

Halos is behind the successful research and development of the Azospirillum-based biofertilizer of PhilRice, and institute under the Department of Agriculture (DA).

A former University of the Philippines (UP) professor, Halos said Vital N is an easy-to-use fertilizer, safer and cheaper many times over than mostly imported organic or inorganic fertilizers that farmers use.

It produces fruit yields with much-reduced chemicals- often blamed for health problems, such as the "blue baby syndrome" because of the side effect of fertilizer overuse.

Studies showed that Vital N gives better rice yields at lesser fertilizer costs wherever the farm may be, thus assurance bigger profit.

It increases corn yield by at least one ton per hectare, and promotes faster growth, better disease resistance and bigger bulbs in Yellow Granex and Red Pinon onions.

With the use of the Azospirillum-based fertilizer, farmers could buy by half what they usually spend for imported fertilizers, organic or inorganic.

Imagine a box of 100 grams of Vital N working wonders that could equal that of the "magic" of four sacks of 50-kilogram organizer fertilizers.

With its suggested retail price of P450 for 100 grams of Vital N, farmers can save as much as P3,000.

Vital N enhances and introduces Azospirillum in plants.

It promotes extensive root development for more efficient nutrient and water uptake and increases plant tolerance to drought.

The bacterium fixes atmospheric nitrogen, eases micronutrient deficiency and deters pathogenic soil-borne and foliar infections.

Halos explains that Azospirillum, a bacterium that normally dwells in the roots of a plant, maximizes mineral uptake by helping dissolve phosphorous, potassium and other minerals that the plant needs to grow bigger and better.

In more than 30 years of scientific study, Azospirillum has been known to help manufacture its own mineral with the help of nitrogen in the air.

It also kills unfriendly microbes that could harm plants, thus resulting in better crops.

Scientists led by Halos were able to preserve the Azospirillum bacterium-making it sleep up to a maximum of three years in a host environment such as Vital N-which can be "awakened" to breed in the roots of rice or corn crops when applied, to do its job.

So far, Vital N is widely accepted as a supplemental fertilizer in the Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley and was proven to have increased farming productivity.