Through PCAARRD funding, UPLB developed the FertiGroe® nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). These inorganic single fertilizers release nutrients more slowly than the conventional inorganic fertilizers, and have strong potential to increase nutrient use efficiency.
The developed FertiGroe® nanofertilizers were tested on rice, corn, eggplant, cabbage, potato, sugarcane, coffee, cacao, and banana. For coffee, test results showed that using FertiGroe® nanofertilizers increased coffee berry yield by 104% compared to trees applied with 100% recommended rate of inorganic fertilizers. The increase in yield and lower cost of labor provided a net profit of about P20,000 after one year of application.