The Department of Agriculture in the Caraga Region (DA-13) welcomed the turnover of a new Mobile Soil Laboratory (MSL) during a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing at the DA Central Office on Thursday afternoon.
DA-13 Regional Executive Director Arlan Mangelen and Rhodielyn Bacsarpa, the Regional Soils Laboratory Chief of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) in the Caraga Region, led the signing.
“The turnover of the MSL is in accordance with the implementation of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1435 and the National Soil Health Program,” the agency said in a statement Friday.
The DA-13 said the MSL is a 10-wheeler truck equipped with state-of-the-art facilities capable of analyzing 44 soil chemical, physical and microbiological properties, as well as water quality.
The MSL will support existing Regional Soil Laboratories in the region to allow for faster processing and accommodate more requests for soil samples.
Soil sampling, the DA-13 said, determines soil nutrient levels and pH, enabling precise fertilizer application, optimizing crop yields, and reducing costs and environmental harm from over-fertilization. (PNA)