Who needs expensive commercial fertilizer when there are cheap legumes to take its place? Scientists in the Philippines have found that legumes can contribute large amounts of nitrogen gas into fertilizer. Nittogen is the nutrient element that most frequently limits crop yields among farmers in this country. The atmosphere contains approximately 79 per cent of nitrogen gas by volume. Andfarmers can make this atmospheric nitrogen available in their farms by planting legumes, thus, saving on budget for commercial fertilizer. "Legumes can contribute large amounts of nitrogen to the soil-plant systems by way of symbolic nitrogen fixation," says Dr. Warlito A. Laquihon, associate director of the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center based here.
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