FERTILIZER SUBSIDIES are needed to help farmers deal with rising prices, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
Agriculture Undersecretary Fermin D. Adriano said during a hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food Thursday that subsidies are the quickest way to address rising prices, and must be handed out immediately in order not to affect production.
“The quickest way to help our farmers is to provide fertilizer subsidy because we cannot really control international prices since we are price takers. But the subsidy will require additional funding,” Mr. Adriano said.
“We are worried about the (price) increase because a lot of farmers will be reducing their fertilizer input, which will definitely have an effect on productivity,” he added.
Wilfredo C. Roldan, Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) executive director, said during the hearing that the average retail price of urea in August rose to P1,495.21 per kilogram (/kg), from P1,014.42/kg a year earlier.
Mr. Roldan said freight costs have increased to $40 per ton from $20 per ton, while urea demand has also increased. Indian fertilizer production has also had to be booked in advance, covering 1.8 million metric tons (MT).
When asked by Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Eufemia C. Cullamat whether the FPA plans to increase local production of fertilizer, Mr. Roldan said there are no government programs for such a purpose.
Mr. Roldan said that in 2020, 90% or 2.61 million MT of the fertilizer supply was imported.
“We do not have a program for improving local production since we are not capable of producing fertilizer. One thing that I can suggest is to invest in organic fertilizer which can be an alternative to chemical fertilizer,” Mr. Roldan said.
Leonardo Q. Montemayor, Federation of Free Farmers board chairman, said alternatives such as bio-fertilizer need to be found in order to address high prices.
“The technology is available whether it is for rice, corn, fruit trees, ornamental plants, etc. We have azolla, vermicast, and other types of organic fertilizers,” Mr. Montemayor said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave