Nanawagan si Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri nitong Lunes, Oktubre 18, sa Department of Agriculture (DA) na gumawa ng aksyon laban sa pagtaas ng presyo ng pataba sa bansa dahil perwisyo umano ito sa mga magsasaka na nahihirapan na sa gastusin sa pagtatanim.
“Ang dami pong lumalapit sa akin na farmers’ groups and cooperatives lately, nanghihingi ng tulong dahil sa tuloy-tuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng fertilizers..Ang baba na nga ng benta ng produkto nila, tapos ang mahal pa ng fertilizer. And with no support from the government, hindi na po talaga sila kikita," pagdadahilan ni Zubiri.
Nauna nang isinisi ni Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority Executive Director Wilfredo Roldan sa nararanasang global demand ang pagtaas ng presyo ng fertilizer sa bansa.
“Urea used to go for just around₱800-₱900 per 50 kilogram, pero ngayon nasa₱1,500-₱1,800 na. That’s an astronomical jump, especially in the middle of a pandemic.Hindi pa nga nakaka-recover ang mga magsasaka natin, lalo pa silang malulugi sa presyo ng farm input," paglilinaw ng senador.
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"And of course, that will affect the whole chain. It will put our farmers out of business, and it will definitely set us back in our efforts to become more self-sufficient in our production. Aasa na naman ba tayo sa imports?,’’ aniya.
“The best way to address this is for the DA to lead the efforts in really developing our local fertilizer industry. How is it that we are an agricultural country, and yet we’re a net importer of fertilizer? We should make fertilizer production a homegrown industry, as an essential part of our agricultural sector,’’ paglalahad nito.
“I remember when the government actually used to produce fertilizer locally, through PhilPhos (Philppine Phospate Fertilizer Corporation), before it was privatized in 2000. For a period of time, we were actually producing more fertilizer than we were importing. We need to look into that model again, and figure out how we can adapt it today, to help our farmers have access to affordable farm input. And we’ll be opening up more jobs too, if we can jumpstart our fertilizer industry again,"sabi ni Zubiri.
“But in the short term, we do need to import fertilizers for our farmers.And I hope the DA can do it on behalf of our farmers. It will be cheaper, and maybe we can ask the National Food Authority to then sell it at friendly prices to our farmers. Better yet, let’s subsidize farm input, at least for timebeing, to help cope with the current prices,’’ dagdag pa ng senador.
Mario Casayuran
