Gov't assures farmers of fertilizer incentives
ROXAS CITY – The government has assured farmers of continuous grant of fertilizer incentives to farmers.
Capiz Provincial Manager Gil Ibarra of the National Food Authority (NFA) announced anew that their office here continues to grant fertilizer incentive of P1,800 to farmers who are holders of NFA Farmer's Passbook, Information Officer Edna Artates said
Ibarra, she said, explained that said holders of passbook need only to sell and deliver their palay produce with an equivalent net weight of 50 kilogram per bag to the agency's warehouse.
The NFA requires farmers to secure their Farmer's passbook at the provincial office for their palay deliveries to avail of the fertilizer incentive.
Artates pointed out that more farmers have been availing of the fertilizer incentive from the government to mitigate the high cost of farm inputs.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) disclosed that fertilizer prices have dipped further after the Christmas season.
Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said low crude oil prices abroad and the nonstop DA efforts to have such a positive trend impact on the domestic cost of petrochemical-based fertilizer have led to the steady drop in the market rates of popularly used farm inputs like Triple 14, 21-0-0, 46-0-0 and 16-20-0.
In his report to DA Secretary Arthur Yap, Paras said that as of the 2nd week of January, the prices of Triple 14 have fallen 44.8% from P1, 940 in September to the current P1,070 per bag, while 21-0-0 dropped 53% from P1,065 in the same month to only P499 per bag.
On the other hand, the cost of 16-20-0 declined 31.2% from P1,410 to P970 per bag and 46-0-0 from P999 to P850 per bag.
Paras noted that the swift decline in the prices of petroleum-based fertilizers was partly the result of the DA's call on suppliers to make available at the lowest possible cost, these farm inputs amid the sharp drop in crude oil prices in the world market.
Last November, Yap said that the downtrend in the prices of oil-based fertilizers was good news for the agriculture sector, especially with palay farmers having started planting for the 2009 dry or summer crop. (PIA/Jemin B. Guillermo)