Price cap on fertilizer sought

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – The National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) is asking the Department of Agriculture to request the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to impose a price cap on fertilizer prices.

Sugar producers here expressed concern over the sharp increase in the price of fertilizer, particularly urea.

This may result in low farmers’ productivity and affect government’s food security program, sugar producers said.

“Fertilizer prices have been rising fast, which would lead to high cost of production, and in turn will result to high prices for our consumers,” NFSP president Enrique Rojas said in a letter to Agriculture Secretary William Dar.

Rojas asked Dar to convince the DTI to impose a “suggested retail price” for all kinds of fertilizer.

“The bulk of the proceeds from our sugar sales is eaten up by the high cost of inputs, particularly fertilizer and fuel. We appeal to the government to institute measures to curb the unconscionable increases in fertilizer and fuel prices,” he said.

Rojas added that agriculture, particularly the sugar industry, has kept the Negros economy afloat at the height of the pandemic.

“The sugar industry, in particular, and agriculture in general, has proven to be an effective partner of government in sustaining our economy amid this pandemic. Government should help us tame the high prices of fertilizer and fuel, so that we can fully perform our role as catalyst for the economic recovery of our country,” he added.

He also said that government intervention in controlling the increases in fertilizer and fuel prices will be highly appreciated by the hundreds of thousands of small sugarcane farmers and the five million Filipinos who depend on the sugar industry for their livelihood.

Sugar Regulatory Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica was also furnished a copy of the said letter.

The price of Urea, the most widely used fertilizer in farming, ranged from P800 to P900 per 50-kilo bag in 2020.

It doubled to about P1,600 per bag last July 2021 and recently skyrocketed to more than P2,000 per bag.

Potash prices increased from P900 per bag last April 2021 to more than P1,600 per bag lately, while the price of 18-46-0 fertilizer also jumped from P1,100 per bag last April 2021 to a whooping P2,200 per bag.

All kinds of fertilizers have also doubled in prices, compared to last year’s price levels.

Meanwhile, Raymond Montinola, president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association, Inc., said that while CONFED thanked Agriculture Secretary William Dar for a swift action to their woes, they still noted the continued rise in the price of urea, which is currently pegged at P2,005 per 50-kilo bag.

In his letter dated Oct 25, Montinola told Dar that the federation is appreciative of the assistance extended by the DA, especially in facilitating a meeting with the Sugar Regulatory Administration, Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority and the Planters Products, Inc. as early as July, in a bid for a quick action plan and link them with a major fertilizer importer-trader that could give a reasonable price.

He lamented that while the price of urea and related farming costs continue to skyrocket to unprecedented levels, but the sugar prices remain the same.

“The fuel cost last year was only P30 per liter, now it’s P50 per liter, with labor cost is also expensive nowadays,” the CONFED executive added.