As the prices of fertilizer skyrockets almost beyond the reach of our farmers, I could not help but look back with sadness at the aborted National Fertilizer Loaning Program which involved a P30-B worth of fertilizers to be loaned out to Filipino rice farmers by a Dubai-based Russian company payable in one year.
The contract was signed and sealed on April 5, 2019 with two executives of the Vigorous Alliance, the Dubai-based company, coming to Manila to formalize the agreement which would have given members of the Irrigators Assoiation and the Small Water Irrigation System Association sustained supply at lower prices.
The National Fertilizer Loaning Program, however, was questioned by Department of Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez who insisted that the loan agreement should be reviewed and approved by his office, even if it was a purely private agreement facilitated only by the Department of Agriculture.
The SWISA and Irrigators Associations of the Philippines were actually prepared to receive the fertilizer by October of 2019 but after I resigned as DA Secretary, the program was aborted and shelved.
I worked on the National Fertilizer Loaning Program after President Rodrigo Duterte instructed me in late 2018 to respond to the requests of farmers for access to affordable fertilizer.
Realizing that there was no funding for a fertilizer loaning program, I sought the help of Philippine Ambassador to Russia, King Sorreta, to help me link up with the Russian agency in charge of the fertilizer industry for a possible tie-up with the Planters Products Inc., which is under the management of the Department of Agriculture.
My initial idea was for a Russian Fertilizer Company, to be endorsed by the Russian Government, to enter into a partnership with Planters Products for a distributorship of low-priced fertilizer .
The company, however, offered a better deal and this was a one-year no-interest fertilizer loan provided Planter’s Products Inc. managed the loaning program and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. would cover farmers losses in case of calamities.
Here is the story I posted on April 6, 2019 about that historic Fertlizer Loaning Program which could have provided farmers with lower-priced and sustained supply of fertilizer:
“DUBAI-BASED RUSSIAN FIRM, PPI
FORGE P30-B FERTILIZER SUPPLY
Filipino rice farmers will soon have access to low-cost fertilizer on credit and this program will not even entail government funds.
In one of the major accomplishments of the Department of Agriculture following a trip to Russia two weeks ago, a Dubai-based Russian-owned company, Vigorous Alliance, has signed a fertilizer supply agreement with Planters Products, Inc., a corporation supervised by the DA.
Under the agreement signed in Manila Thursday, Vigorous Alliance will supply fertilizers needed by Filipino rice farmers every planting season amounting to about P30-B.
The fertilizer will be loaned out by PPI to rice farmers at the start of the planting season payable after harvest.
Vigorous Alliance Chief Executive Officer Merdan Gurbanov and his associate Lev Dengov flew in Monday for a series of extensive negotiations with PPI.
The DA Legal Service assisted in the formulation of the Memorandum of Agreement between Vigorous Alliance and PPI.
Gurbanov signed on behalf of Vigorous Alliance while PPI President Rodel Mañara signed for the Philippine fertilizer company.
The fertilizer-on-credit program of PPI is in compliance with the directive of President Rody Duterte to provide farmers with fertilizer.
Since there are no government funds for the program this year, the DA worked on the arrangement between Vigorous Alliance and PPI.
Beneficiaries of the program include members of the Irrigators‘ Associations, the Small Water Impounding Systems Association, Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organization and individual rice farmers.
The fertilizer loaning will be without interest or service fees and the price will be lower than the prevailing market price.
All beneficiaries of the fertilizer loaning program will be covered by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp.
The fertilizer loan will start October for the dry season planting.
The forging of this huge private-to-private business engagement was made possible with the support of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Foreign Affairs represented by Ambassador Carlos D. Sorreta in Moscow who facilitated the meetings.”
(Note: This out-of-the-box private-to-private-plus-farmers engagement was signed and sealed in April 2019 but later abandoned when I resigned from the DA. This is a sustainable program because farmers will pay back as against the fertilizer dole-out using government funds. This project should be revisited for the sake of the Filipino farmers.)
(Photos show then PPI President Rodel Mañara with Dubai-based Vigorous Alliance CEO Merdan Gurbanov during the signing of the Fertilizer Loan Agreement April 5, 2019. Photos were taken by Mayette Tudlas.)
More Stories
2nd Harvest Of ‘Saging Tindok!’
American Baseball Coach In North Cotabato!
Cotabato ‘Rice Republic,’ Localized, Autonomous Food Security Strategy!