CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- An association of farmers from one of the hinterland barangays in Cagayan de Oro City has expressed its concern over the high price of fertilizers.
Feliciano Sugtom, the president of Besigan-Poblacion Farmers Association, told Manila Bulletin in a phone interview Saturday, Aug. 27, that they can no longer afford the price of fertilizers after it increased to over P2,000 per sack.
“Ang mga mag-uuma sa Barangay Besigan, dili nami ka-afford anang abono karon kay tag dos-mil kapin. Kay kung pananglit mupalit mi’g tulo o lima ka sako, dili nami ka afford ana (The farmers in Brgy. Besigan, we can’t afford that fertilizer because it’s over P2,000. If, say, we would buy 3-5 sacks , we can no longer afford that),” Sugtom said.
The association president called on the government to bring back the previous price of fertilizers as the majority of the farmers in Barangay Besigan in this city are having a hard time buying fertilizers which are essential for their farming.
“Akong panawagan, kung mahimo ibalik tong presyo kaniadto sa abono kay taman rami sa kunsumo kay dili naman mi makaapas sa presyo sa abono karon (My appeal is, if possible, return the previous price of fertilizer because we can only sustain our daily needs and we can't catch up with the price of fertilizer now),” added Sugtom.
Sugtom cited a specific brand of fertilizer which Besigan farmers could buy for only P800 before. Now, the same brand of fertilizer costs P2,400 per sack.
On Aug. 10 this year, President Marcos Jr. had a meeting with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) secretary Alfredo Pascual and instructed the agency to set out plans to make fertilizers affordable to farmers to increase their productivity.
Julie Nieva, the information officer of DTI Northern Mindanao (Region 10), said that the regional office is still waiting for official instructions from their central office.
“Ongoing discussions are being conducted by the Office of DTI Secretary with concerned agencies or organizations on initiatives to make fertilizers available for farmers,” Nieva told Manila Bulletin in a text message.
“We are waiting for official instructions from DTI central office for the result or to know the final agreements of the discussions,” she added.
In an article from Philippine News Agency, the government’s newswire service, Marcos expressed his intent to pursue government-to-government (G2G) talks to address the increasing prices of fertilizers.
Marcos, who concurrently heads the Department of Agriculture (DA), is communicating with China, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Russia for the country's procurement of fertilizers.