How Many Bags of Fertilizer per Hectare Does Rice Need?
Irrigated palay usually needs about 2.5 to 6.5 bags of inorganic fertilizer per hectare, depending on the yield you aim for. The Abonong Swak plan uses 2.5 bags for 3 to 4 tons, 4.5 bags for 5 to 6 tons and 6.5 bags for 7 to 8 tons, plus 10 bags of organic fertilizer. Treat these bags of fertilizer per hectare as a starting point and adjust them with a soil test. anee.io, a farm app built for Filipino farmers, has an NPK Plus calculator that checks your bag count against what rice needs.
Farmers buy fertilizer by the bag, but the crop needs it by the kilo of nutrient. A 50 kg bag of urea and a 50 kg bag of 14 14 14 look the same on the tricycle. Yet one carries 23 kg of nitrogen and the other only 7 kg each of nitrogen, phosphate and potash.
So the honest answer depends on two things: the harvest you aim for and the grades you buy. Prices below are national averages for October 5 to 9, 2026.
- 3 to 4 tons: about 2.5 bags, that is 1 bag of 14 14 14, 1 bag of urea and half a bag of potash.
- 5 to 6 tons: about 4.5 bags, with 2 bags of 14 14 14 or 16 20 0, 2 bags of urea and half a bag of potash.
- 7 to 8 tons: about 6.5 bags, with 4 bags of urea instead of 2.
- Organic matter cuts the count. The plan adds 10 bags of organic fertilizer and returns the rice straw.
- Scale it to your lot. Multiply every bag by your area in hectares.
How many bags of fertilizer per hectare, by yield target?
Two well known plans give the count. Abonong Swak counts on rice straw and 10 bags of organic fertilizer to supply part of the nitrogen. The Nueva Ecija wet season quick guide assumes no straw and no organic matter, and it uses more bags for a similar harvest.
| Plan and target | 14 14 14 | Urea | Potash 0 0 60 | Total bags | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abonong Swak, 3 to 4 tons | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 4,975.35 |
| Abonong Swak, 5 to 6 tons | 2 | 2 | 0.5 | 4.5 | 9,113.76 |
| Abonong Swak, 7 to 8 tons | 2 | 4 | 0.5 | 6.5 | 13,596.58 |
| Wet season guide, 70 to 90 cavans | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8,276.82 |
| Wet season guide, 90 to 110 cavans | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12,415.23 |
| Wet season guide, 110 to 130 cavans | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 16,553.64 |
The timing of each bag matters as much as the count. Our guide to fertilizer for rice lists the Abonong Swak days for each variety maturity. The page on fertilizer for wet season rice covers the quick guide.
What is inside each 50 kg bag?
Every grade is a percent. Multiply the percent by 50 kg and you get the kilos of nutrient in the bag. Dividing the price by those kilos tells you which bag gives the cheapest nutrient.
| Grade | What one bag holds | Price per bag (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Urea 46 0 0, prilled | 23 kg nitrogen | 2,241.41 |
| Complete 14 14 14 | 7 kg each of N, P2O5 and K2O | 1,897.00 |
| Ammophos 16 20 0 | 8 kg N and 10 kg P2O5 | 1,749.58 |
| Ammosul 21 0 0 | 10.5 kg N plus sulfur | 1,238.95 |
| Muriate of potash 0 0 60 | 30 kg K2O | 1,673.88 |
| Diammonium phosphate 18 46 0 | 9 kg N and 23 kg P2O5 | 2,960.63 |
How do I count the bags for my own field?
Pick a yield target you can reach
Start from your best recent harvest on that field, not your neighbor's. Wet season targets should sit lower than dry season ones.
Choose the plan for that target
Use a soil test, the MOET kit or your province's quick guide if you have one. Otherwise, use the Abonong Swak plan above.
Credit what you return to the soil
The straw from a 5 ton harvest, worked back in, supplies about 30 kg of nitrogen. That equals about 1.3 bags of urea.
Multiply by your area
A hectare is 10,000 square meters. For a 2,500 square meter lot, multiply every bag by 0.25.
Price it before you buy
Check the latest weekly prices, then compare with your dealer. Our guide to fertilizer calculation shows the full formula.
From kilos of nutrient to bags
Some recommendations come in kilos of nutrient, not bags. The general recommendation for irrigated lowland, for example, gives 97 kg of nitrogen per hectare in the wet season. If 2 bags of 14 14 14 already supply 14 kg, then 83 kg remain. Dividing 83 by 0.46 gives about 180 kg of urea, or 3.6 bags.
Prices are for 50 kg bags. If your dealer sells repacked 25 kg sacks or loose kilos, divide the price by the weight first. Then compare it with the bag price so you know which one is cheaper.
How does anee.io count the bags for me?
The NPK Plus calculator takes the bags you plan to use and adds up the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium per hectare and in all. It tells you if each one is short, right or too much for rice. Want a full plan instead? Crop Protocol Analysis has Anee write the season by growth stage, with the bags and their dates. NPK Plus and the analysis come with Libre plus Anee and the plans above it, and the analysis uses credits.
On Solo Farmer and Farm Owner, farm inventory sets what your plan needs against what is in the shed. You see at once what is left to buy. Each fertilizer task you tick done takes its bags out of stock.
Tap the fertilizers you plan to buy and see the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium they give your rice per hectare.
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