Farmers, Russian firm ink P30-B fertilizer deal

MANILA, Philippines — Local farmers and a Russian private firm have inked a P30-billion fertilizer supply agreement as part of government’s efforts to improve crop production in the country.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Russian-owned company Vigorous Alliance has signed a fertilizer supply agreement with DA-supervised corporation Planters Products Inc. (PPI).

“Under the agreement, Vigorous Alliance will supply fertilizers needed by Filipino rice farmers every planting season amounting to about P30 billion,” Piñol said.

“The fertilizer will be loaned out by PPI to rice farmers at the start of the planting season payable after harvest,” he said.

Vigorous Alliance CEO Merdan Gurbanov signed for the company while PPI president Rodel Mañara signed for the Philippine fertilizer company.

“The fertilizer-on-credit program of PPI is in compliance with the directive of President Duterte to provide farmers with fertilizer,” Piñol said.

“The fertilizer loaning will be without interest or service fees and the price will be lower than the prevailing market price,” he added.

All beneficiaries of the fertilizer loaning program will be covered by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. and the fertilizer loan will start in October for the dry season planting.

The identification and validation of the rice farmers and their areas will be undertaken in cooperation with the National Irrigation Administration, the Department of Agrarian Reform and the local government units.

Each validated farmer will be issued with the Juan Magsasaka identification card to be used in claiming fertilizer supply.

A farmer can get nine bags of fertilizer recommended by the Philippine Rice Research Institute, which will consist of four bags of Urea, four bags of Complete and one bag of Muriate of Potash.

A DA study showed that one of the reasons for the low productivity of rice and corn farmers is the low fertilization rate of their farms because of the high price of fertilizers.

While most farms would require six to eight bags of fertilizer to achieve maximum productivity, many farmers only use two to four bags.

While the DA has been giving out limited seeds support, it has not initiated a fertilizer support program because of the huge amount involved and yet a limited allocation for the department.