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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Luzon devider Cebu firm fears rice shortage due to advisory vs biofertilizer

Cebu firm fears rice shortage due to advisory vs biofertilizer

Published Aug 19, 2024 10:17 am

CEBU CITY — A Cebu-based company has cried foul over a government order that would affect the distribution of its widely used fertilizer.

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ENGR. Grecilda Sanchez shows a public advisory released by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority that may affect the distribution of a biofertilizer that is highly patronized by rice farmers. (Calvin D. Cordova)

Engr. Grecilda Sanchez, president and chief executive officer of LactoBiotics Worldwide Corp., said the order of the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) to stop the distribution of Lactoplant Biofertilizer has serious repercussions.

“This involves national food security,” said Sanchez.

The issue stems from a public advisory released by FPA that practically discourages rice farmers from using the company’s biofertilizer.

“Please be advised that in the agency’s original certification, Lactobiotics Worldwide Corp. needs to conduct the required FPA bioefficacy trial and submit all necessary documents to the agency for the label expansion registration of their product for rice and other crops,” the agency said.

The FPA also warned the public of a tampered certification circulating online that indicated that the agency has already granted Lactoplant a label expansion.

Sanchez, a former Cebu provincial board member and daughter of the late Cebu Vice Gov. Greg Sanchez, said the company has nothing to do with the circulation of the tampered certification.

“To address the current issue, LactoBiotics Worldwide Corp. denies its involvement in the altered certification issued by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority and strongly condemns the act of falsifying such certifications,” the company said in a statement.

Sanchez narrated that proliferation of the tampered certification started when the company participated in the fertilizer voucher program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Barugo, Leyte, on Friday, August 16.

Based on their certification, the company still needs to comply with the FPA bioefficacy trial and submit all the necessary documents for label expansion registration to already include rice and other crops.

Lactoplant currently has a certification for use on fruit trees and leafy vegetables. For it be used as a fertilizer for rice, it must be issued with “all crops” certification.

Sanchez added that the company has been asking the FPA to grant them the “all crops” certification but the request has been falling on deaf ears.

Under Chapter III of the FPA’s Fertilizer Regulatory Policies and Implementing Guidelines, fertilizers that are water soluble and fully registered for 10 consecutive years no longer require Bioefficacy Data Generation.

Lactoplant has been registered by FPA, she said.

“The product has been in the market for the last 13 years. It is more affordable compared to other products, farmers enjoy better yields, that’s why this product is patronized by most farmers. It is really a farmer’s choice,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the company has been joining rice techno demo and derbies in which Lactoplant yielded very promising outcomes.

In fact, in a techno demo in Barangay Gabi in Ubay, Bohol, Lactoplant was recognized as second Best Biofertilizer and 1st Highest in Actual Yield, Sanchez said.

The product also received the High Yielding Award and Farmer’s Choice Award from the municipality of Carigara in Leyte and the High Yielding Award from the provincial agriculturist in Davao de Oro.

Sanchez said the FPA advisory has affected the delivery of their fertilizers in different regions in the country.

Based on its purchase orders, the company is set to deliver fertilizers for 30,000 hectares of rice farmland in Region 12 and 35,000 hectares of rice farmland in Region 8.  The company is also scheduled to deliver fertilizers to 65,000 hectares of rice farmland in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan; 15,000 hectares of rice farmland in Bohol, and another 20,000 hectares in Region 1.

If the company fails to complete those deliveries, the country will lose  20,532,701 bags of rice, Sanchez said.

“So we will just stop eating? Let us tell our farmers that let’s just stop farming?” Sanchez said.
 

Related Tags

Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) Cebu City Engr. Grecilda Sanchez Lactobiotics Worldwide Corp.
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