THE EFFECTS OF FERMENTED MILKFISH (Chanos chanos)

INNARDS AS LIQUID FERTILIZER IN THE GROWTH OF

CHILI (Capsicum fructesens) PLANT
ARZADON, M.G., BARUELA, L.V., CORNISTA, A.C., DE GRACIA, N., MANAGDAG, D. K., PARAGINOG,
C.D., PULMANO, M.J., RABAGO, N. F., ROMERO, E.J., SISON, P. I.

Saint Louis University Laboratory High School – Senior High

Baguio City

ABSTRACT
This study is conducted to develop a liquid fertilizer from milkfish (Chanos chanos) innards for the cultivation
of chili pepper (Capsicum frusctesens). The experiment aims to determine the response of the chili plants to the
liquid milkfish innards fertilizer compared to another type of fertilizer, which is animal manure. The study will make
use of randomized complete block design (RCBD) as a basis to determine the growth of the chili pepper plants using
liquid milkfish innards fertilizer compared to the use animal manure fertilizer. The research uses RCBD since each
pot plants will use the treatment of having the same amount of soil, sunlight, and water while being subjected to 2
different fertilizers. The researchers will create the fish emulsion mixture by mixing the milkfish innards, brown
organic matter, molasses and water. It will be rested for a few weeks, then it will be filtered to become fish
emulsion. It will be applied to one chili pepper plant, and the other will be applied with animal manure. One plant
will be the control variable, having no fertilizers applied. The three plants will be observed, and further studies will
be conducted.

Keywords: milkfish innards, Dagupan milkfish, liquid fertilizer, chili pepper, animal manure

2019

INTRODUCTION the country in 2011 (Bureau of Agricultural

Milkfish (Chanos chanos) is a staple
food fish in the Philippines. Also called as
bandeng or bangus, it is a silvery marine
fish, and it is the only living fish of the
family Chanidae (Bagarinao, 1999). Being
known as the national fish in country, it is an
important food fish in the Philippines as it is
widely cultivated and consumed for food,
composts and more. The country is currently
ranked as 2nd in terms of milkfish
manufacturing, following next to Indonesia
(“Saving the Milkfish Industry Through
Local Production of Hatchery-Bred Fry”,
2016). Production reached 225,000 tons in
Statistics). Milkfish in the country is mainly
produced in the province of Dagupan,
Pangasinan. According to Marte (2010), it
will remain to be the backbone of the
Philippine aquaculture, since this type of
fish is one of the most cultured in the
country. Because the fish is being widely
consumed and distributed, more wastes are
being produced from the product. Certain
measures are being taken to ensure that these
scraps will be reused, and fish waste will be
reduced. One way to reuse these scraps is by
using these as an alternative organic
fertilizer.

MILKFISH (Chanos chanos) INNARDS AS A LIQUID FERTILIZER FOR THE CULTIVATION OF CHILI (Capsicum fructesens) 1
 Organic fertilizers are composts that are
derived from plants or animal manures,
either coming from fresh or dried material
(Wohlfarth and Schroeder, 1979; Das and
Jana, 2003; Kumar et al., 2004). These
components make cultivation of plants and
crops easier for farmers and growers as they
help the plantations grow at a fast rate.
Aside from the health of plants, these are
important for microorganisms to grow
properly in the soil, helping in
decomposition (“Plant Factory”, 2016).
Organic fertilizers have different varieties:
manure, decomposed organic matter and fish
emulsion. Fish emulsions are fertilizers that
are made of different fermented fish’s scraps
or innards. Lema and Degebassa (2013)
explained that organic fertilizers, such as
one made from fish viscera, are
environmentally friendly as these do not
pollute aquatic ecosystems. Fish fertilizer
can be in the form of powder or liquid.
Liquid organic fertilizer mostly produces
fish silage as its main component. In this
study, the fertilizer will be in liquid form.
This is because organic fertilizers mostly
produce fish silage as its main component.
Fahlivi (2018) claimed that fish silage is a
natural liquid product made entirely from
innards of different species of fish and that
each by-raw material contains vitamins,
elements, and certain amino acids that can
be used as a fertilizer or as a supplement to
animal feed. Also, according to Gaskell
(1999), fish offal’s fertilizers contain
significant quantities of protein, nitrogen as
well as a healthy balance of all the 18
nutrients known to be significant for crops
growth.
Generally, fish fertilizers are good
substitutes for inorganic composts,
promoting resourcefulness of waste that are
left from the consumption of fish. It was
stated by FAO (2001) that the utilization of
the materials in valuable products which are
otherwise thrown away is the main
MILKFISH (Chanos chanos) INNARDS AS A LIQUID FERTILIZER FOR THE CULTIVATION OF CHILI (Capsicum fructesens)
advantage of processing fish silage. Fish
offal are often disregarded and thrown as
wastes in the Philippines. It signifies how
the effectiveness of leftover materials can
serve a great purpose in agriculture and to
the environment.
Different species of fishes can be used
for cultivation; however, this research makes
use of milkfish (Chanos Chanos) due to
specific reasons. There are various species
being studied in relation to using fish as
fertilizer, but few researches are conducted
using milkfish as their material. Another
reason is to reuse organic waste products for
the growth of the agriculture and the
environment of the country. As stated by
Punongbayan (2019), agriculture in the
Philippines is declining by 5.7% due to the
drop of crop fertilization, Rice Tarrification
Act and El Niño. Land pollution is also
increasing, having organic materials that
came from papers, food wastes and others
fill up the land become the most generated
garbage as stated by Bradford (2018).
Milkfish innards are counted as an organic
waste. Supartinah (2012) reported that
milkfish viscera contained up to 66.8%
moisture, 1.2% ash, 9.7% lipid, and 8.7%
protein. These are components that are
essential to becoming an organic fertilizer
(Reynolds, 2017). Moreover, it was studied
by Suseno and Suhono (2007) that by-raw
material from milkfish such as viscera and
cut-offs are approximately 20 – 30% of the
fish. This means that a large portion of the
fish is wasted, being discarded as it is not fit
for human consumptions.
One of the most prominent products in
the Philippines aside from milkfish are chili
peppers. It belongs to the family Solanaceae,
and the most demanded type of chili in the
country is Capsum frusctesens (in local
terms: siling labuyo), which is widely used
in Philippine cuisine. These are consumed
by many because of their spicy taste,
2
nutritional values and health benefits
(Ganeshnauth, Jaikishun, Ansari,
Homenauth, 2017). As stated by Singh
(1998), the chilis are rich in vitamins A, B-6
and C. One chili pepper contains 8% of
vitamin A, 10% of vitamin B-6 and 107% of
vitamin C. According to Maji and Banerji
(2016), these peppers contain different
antioxidants and medicinal properties that
are also widely used to promote weight loss,
cure sleep deprivation, reduction of tumor,
protect the nerves of the person, cure
arthritis and other health benefits.
Chilis are not limited to the Philippine
agriculture. Chilis are also mostly cultivated
in Asian countries such as Cambodia,
Philippines, India, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, and Thailand (Khandaker,
Rohani, Dalorima, Mat, 2017). Since
production of this pepper plant is highly
demanded in these countries, different
measures are taken to enhance the quality
and the amount of time chili peppers need to
grow.
Ganeshnauth et al (2019) stated that
chili peppers are usually grown with the use
of chemical or inorganic fertilizers because
this kind of cultivation is faster in terms of
plant growth. However, because of the
different environmental and agricultural
problems the country is facing, alternatives
are being looked on. According to Verma
and Verma (2012), continuous use of
chemical fertilizer damages the soil
condition due to the loss of microbial
contents that are needed for plant growth.
Liquid organic fertilizers such as milkfish
innards are one of the different kinds of
alternative that can be used for an
environmental-friendly and health-friendly
production of plants, particularly in this
research, for the cultivation of chili peppers.
Research Questions
MILKFISH (Chanos chanos) INNARDS AS A LIQUID FERTILIZER FOR THE CULTIVATION OF CHILI (Capsicum fructesens)
The main intent of this study is to
determine the effectiveness of the liquid
organic fertilizer made from milkfish
(Chanos chanos) innards to the growth of
chili pepper (Capsicum frusctesens). Also,
this study aims to compare the effects of the
liquid milkfish innards fertilizer to the plants
in terms of height, color, number of leaves
and fruits compared to another type of
organic fertilizer, which is animal manure.
Efficacy of liquid fertilizer from milkfish
(Chanos chanos) innards to the growth of
chilli pepper (Capsicum fructesens) has not
yet been entirely introduced to the market.
This will determine whether the milkfish
innards can be used as a substitute for other
commercial organic fertilizers. Therefore,
the researchers must be able to answer the
following problems:
1. What is the effect of applying milkfish
innards as fertilizer to the growth of chili
plant in terms of:
a. Plant height
b. Amount of leaves
c. Surface area of leaves
d. Plant color
e. First bearing
f. Amount of fruit produced
as compared with an organic animal manure
fertilizer and with no fertilizer?
2. How effective is the milkfish innards as
a liquid fertilizer?
Significance of the Study
Results of this investigation would
be highly significant and beneficial mainly
to the community which involves farmers,
agriculturists, home crop growers,
consumers of the products, and the local
citizens, because it will lessen the expenses
when it comes to the purchasing of such
product. It will also raise awareness of the
importance of reusing wastes from the
3
consumption in food to reduce the amount of animal manure. One plant will be left as the
garbage being produced. Milkfish innards as control group, having no fertilizer applied to
a fertilizer do not contain any environmental it. To further elaborate, the researchers aim
pollutants which are known to cause to accomplish the following tasks:
diseases that can harm both humans and
Task 1: Develop a liquid fertilizer out of
animals. According to Abelti (2013), “Fish milkfish (Chanos chanos);
offal’s fertilizers are excellent sources of
nutrition for soils and plants, as fish contains Task 2: Measure the effect of the fertilizer for a
the full spectrum of nutrients found in the specific vegetable plant which is the Chili
planets’ waters.” This means that fish is safe pepper (Capsicum frusctesens) within the
expected time of growth;
to use and is organic, containing only the
nutrients contained by the fish, which will Task 3: Compare the results with that of the one
be beneficial to the soil and the plant itself with the animal manure and one with no
as stated before. Furthermore, the economy fertilizers at all
is greatly influenced in this study, because There will be 3 replications of each
applying alternative plant fertilizer promotes treatment. The replicates are termed as
innovative products, and helps in creating “Blocks”. The three treatments will be
more yields that people can use which serves randomized completely within each block.
as a guide for people to be aware of the This is to take care of the variations in the
importance of resourcefulness in our soil. Hence, there will be 3 pots for each of
country’s current state. To the future the varieties and a total of 9 experimental
researchers, this study can serve as a units on the whole.
reference for future studies and take into
account any revisions, especially for the Furthermore, for easier analysis, the
growth of the Philippines’ agricultural and research design is depicted as follows:
economic development.
Table 1: The research design
Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Treatme Fertilizers
nt applied
METHOD (Independent
variable)
Research Design Chili Plant 1 Chili Plant 2 Chili Plant 3 Liquid
(Dependent (Dependent (Dependent Same milkfish
A randomized complete block design variable) variable) variable)
amount innards
(RCBD) will be applied in order to of water, fertilizer
compare the results of each dependent Chili plant 4 Chili Plant 5 Chili Plant 6 sunlight, Commercial
and time
variable by measuring the outcome of each (Dependent (Dependent (Dependent
of
animal
variable) variable) variable) manure
plant. According to Salkind (2010), Chili Plant 7 Chili Plant 8 Chili Plant 9 growth None
“RCBD is the simplest design for (Control (Control (Control
comparative experiments, as it uses only variable) variable) variable)
two basic principles of experimental
designs: replication and randomization.”
Additionally, it is widely used in agricultural Materials and Location
researches, which is what RCBD was
initially made for. Researchers have the The researchers will be using the
control over the kind of fertilizer to be used following materials for this research: 7
for the growth of the 2 chili pepper plants, kilograms of Milkfish innards, natural soil, 7
specifically the liquid fertilizer and the

MILKFISH (Chanos chanos) INNARDS AS A LIQUID FERTILIZER FOR THE CULTIVATION OF CHILI (Capsicum fructesens) 4
 liters of warm water, 1 bucket with a
capacity of 20 liters, 64 grams of molasses,
animal manure, and seeds from 3 chili
peppers. The milkfish innards will be bought
from the market in Dagupan City and chili
pepper seeds will be bought in the local
market.
The experiment will be conducted in
one of the researcher's house in Baguio City,
Philippines, but the fish innards will be
gathered in Dagupan City. Dagupan City is
known as the Bangus (Milkfish) Capital of
the Philippines.
Data Gathering Procedure
To gather the data needed for the
research, the fish emulsion must first be
made by the researchers. The process of
creating the milkfish innards fish fertilizer is
as follows:
a.EMULSION OF MILKFISH INNARDS AND
PLANTATION OF CHILI PEPPER SEEDS
The chili pepper plants will be planted
beforehand, letting the plants grow for about
20 days before the application of the
homemade fish emulsion. According to
Rose (2013), to make the fish fertilizer, the
fish innards will be collected and layered in
a bucket along with the brown organic
matter (dried leaves), filling it until two-
thirds of the bucket is full. Water is then
poured to fill the bucket, covering the
compost completely.
b. APPLICATION OF MOLASSES
Molasses will be mixed as well to induce
fermentation. Molasses is an agro-industrial
by-product during processing of sugarcane
and sugar beet into sugar, often used in
alcohol distilleries due to the presence of
high levels of fermentative sugars such as
glucose, sucrose and fructose (16), being an
optimal carbon source for the
microorganism metabolism (Behera,
MILKFISH (Chanos chanos) INNARDS AS A LIQUID FERTILIZER FOR THE CULTIVATION OF CHILI (Capsicum fructesens)
Mohanty & Ray, 2012). Fermentation of the
mixture is needed to prolong the life of the
emulsion. According to Leong (2011),
“harmful substances such as lignin, tannic
acid, oil and fats, terpene and others are
present in the fertilizer. These substances
are harmful to the roots and also inhibit
germination.” Fermentation of the organic
product can contribute to the avoidance of
this situation.
c. FERMENTATION PROCESS
After that, the compost is to be covered
with lid and to be kept in a dry place away
from the sun. The mixture will be mixed
every few days for weeks, clearing up the
foam and gas build-up being formed due to
the fermentation process. The water from the
mixture will then be poured off to be caught
in another empty bucket. The water is to be
the fish emulsion.
d. DILUTION OF FISH EMULSION AND
APPLICATION TO CHILI PEPPER PLANT
The remaining fish innards and organic
matter scraps can be brewed again to make
another batch. The emulsion can already be
used on the variable plant, by diluting 150
grams of the emulsion to 20 liters of water.
The fertilizers will be applied every 2-3
weeks, watering daily in the given time. It
will be applied to the chili pepper plant and
its growth will be observed to see the
effectiveness of the liquid organic fertilizer.
Alongside with that, one plant will be
applied with animal manure, and another
one will remain neutral, not applying any
fertilizer to the plant.
Plan for Data Analysis
After a period of about 2-3 weeks, all the
gathered data will be observed and will be
concluded, giving additional discussions and
information regarding the experiment and
5
the studies gathered. To analyze the data, the d. Plant color
researchers must observe the growth of the e. First bearing
plants, specifically: f. Amount of fruit produced
a. Plant height (in cm) All gathered data must be recorded in a
b. Amount of leaves table for comparison and elaboration.
c. Surface area of leaves (in cm3)

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