The Department of Agriculture – Caraga Region (DA-13) has welcomed the turnover of a new Mobile Soil Laboratory (MSL) during a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing held at the DA Central Office on Thursday.
The signing was led by DA-13 Regional Executive Director Arlan Mangelen and Rhodielyn Bacsarpa, Regional Soils Laboratory Chief of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) in Caraga.
According to DA-13, 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 turnover of the MSL is in accordance with the implementation of Presidential Decree No. 1435 and the National Soil Health Program,” the agency said.
The mobile lab will support existing regional soil laboratories, allowing for faster processing and accommodating more requests for soil samples from farmers.
Soil testing, DA-13 emphasized, helps determine nutrient levels and pH, enabling precise fertilizer application, optimizing crop yields, reducing costs, and minimizing environmental damage from over-fertilization.
This initiative is expected to enhance agricultural productivity across the Caraga region and provide farmers with more efficient, science-based solutions for soil management.