Vast rice fields in Bataan. Photo by Ernie Esconde
BALANGA CITY — The provincial agriculture office here on Sunday said that both the provincial government and the Department of Agriculture are finding ways to lessen the impact of the rising price of inorganic fertilizers on rice farmers.
Farmers have voiced their woe on the surge of the price of commercial urea fertilizers that jumped to the present P2,525 a bag from P1,200 last planting season between June to October, 2021.
Engineer Joey Dizon, provincial agriculturist, pointed to lack of enough supply as the cause of the rising cost of urea and other inorganic fertilizers.
“According to the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, walang dumadating na abono, nagkakaipitan daw sa pag-iimport sa China kaya tumaas nang ganyan ang presyo,” she said.
Dizon said that to lessen the dependency of rice farmers to inorganic fertilizers, the provincial government has been producing and distributing Trichoderma to speed the decomposition of rice straws left in the farms.
“Kapag nabulok ang dayami, madadagdagan ang sustansiya ng lupa at mababawasan ang pangangailangan ng inorganic fertilizers tulad ng urea at 14-14-14,” the provincial agriculturist noted.
She added that the provincial government has also an ongoing procurement of soil ameliorant to lengthen the roots of riceplants to increase their nutrient-absorption capacity.
“Pinaparami nito ang mga microorganism sa lupa na nakakatulong sa pagpapataba ng lupa. With this, mababawasan ang pangangailangan sa inorganic fertilizers,” she said.
Dizon disclosed that after calamities, the provincial government assisted farmers in the form of fertilizer distribution like when they handed a bag of 14- 14-14 fertilizer each to 900 farmers whose crops were damaged by typhoon Ulysses last November 2020.
The Department of Agriculture has also been assisting farmers in Bataan through the distribution of free palay seeds and various farm machineries and implements like farm tractors, hand tractors and engine for water pumps, among some others, Dizon said.
