By Stephanie Sevillano | Philippine News Agency
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the government is eyeing to break ground for the first fertilizer plant in the Philippines within the year as part of the long-term solution against the effects of surging global prices of fertilizer due to the tensions in the Middle East.
In a press conference, DA Usec. Roger Navarro said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Executive Secretary Ralph Recto gave the go signal to explore the possibility of producing the country’s own fertilizers.
“Mayroon tayong binabalak na magtatayo tayo ng manufacturing plant for fertilizer. And this was already approved by the President during one of the Cabinet meetings,” he said.
“If we’re going to finish the study by August or September, then we can break ground by maybe November to December,” Usec. Navarro said.
He, however, noted that this will be subject to careful planning and feasibility study.
The target approval for its project proposal is expected to be released within two weeks.
Should the timeline go as planned, the Philippines can have its first fertilizer plant constructed as early as next year.
“By 2027, we’ll be able to put up the plant, and before the end of 2027, we will have our own urea fertilizer plant,” the undersecretary said.
Meanwhile, DA spokesperson Asec. Arnel de Mesa said the agency is seeking a $1 million grant for the feasibility study from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
For now, the DA has ongoing talks with other partner governments to source fertilizer within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei Darussalam.
The agency earlier disclosed the utilization of P500 million of its quick response fund (QRF) to procure biofertilizers for distribution to farmers.
The prices of urea-prilled range from P1,926.56 per 50-kg bag to P2,748.44; while the prevailing price of urea-granular is P2,438.67 per 50-kg bag, and P1,806.76 for complete (14-14-14) fertilizer, according to the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority.
-jpv
