Senatorial aspirant Herbert Bautista on Saturday, March 19 called on the government to prioritize giving assistance to farmers amid the rising cost of fertilizers.

Bautista said farmers' income has been falling "sharply," although he said "the numbers are hard to pin down".

"But in my campaign sorties in the provinces, I see with my own eyes the hardship of our farmers," the senatorial aspirant running under the UniTeam alliance ticket said.

Citing figures from the Department of Agriculture (DA), Bautista said the current estimated fertilizer price is at P2,500 per 50-kilogram bag.

In January, the price of fertilizer was only about P1,700, according to the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority, an agency under the DA.

"Add that to the low farm gate prices of palay (unhusked rice) and you have a disaster in your hands," Bautista lamented, adding that he has proposed a distribution of free fertilizers to farmers as assistance.

Last year, farmgate prices of palay plunged to as low as P10 per kilogram but the DA said prices improved recently, rising to P14.30 per kilogram to P17.81 per kilogram.