Pinoy-invented fertilizer for sugar cane launched

www.abs-cbnnews.com By RHODINA J. VILLANUEVA TODAY Reporter

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has launched a Filipino-invented fertilizer that will reportedly help sugar farmers spend less and increase production.

D.A. Secretary Luiz Lorenzo Jr. said the “3-in-1” fertilizer resulted from a presidential directive to the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority to develop an alternative to the traditional mixture of urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP), in coordination with local fertilizer manufacturers.

A worldwide shortage of urea and DAP had earlier been forecast beginning next month as a result of plant closures in the United States, Venezuela, Russia and the Middle East.

“The shortage will severely affect our sugar planters, predominantly in Negros and Bukidnon. Planters have traditionally used urea and DAP for decades,” Lorenzo said.

Urea contains 46 percent nitrogen, while DAP contains a mixture of 16 percent nitrogen and 46 percent phosporous.

The DA chief hailed this development not only as a pride for Filipino technological prowess but also as a significant boost to foreign-currency savings in fertilizer imports.

“There is a need to reformulate the type of fertilizer our farmers are using to make it more affordable to them,” he said, at the same time assuring farmers that the new fertilizer still bears the same nutrients possessed by the other types.

So far, only the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp. (Philphos) has successfully formulated the special fertilizer for the sugar industry, which it has branded as “Philphos 3-in-1.”

Philphos claims that the fertilizer grade will allow sugar planters to save P1,500 per hectare.

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