Fertilizer firms to thwart sale of substandard products

Fertilizer companies are taking steps to prevent the sale of substandard fertilizers to unsuspecting farmers.

The Fertilizer Industry Association of the Philippines (FIAP) has assured Agriculture Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban that its members are now threshing out measures on how to prevent the contamination and unscrupulous peddling by some dealers and distributors of low-grade fertilizers.

FIAP president Raymond Ilustre, who is also president of Atlas Fertilizer Corp., said they intend to fully comply with the specification and standards set by the industry and by the Fertilizer Pesticide Authority (FPA).

"We will impose discipline and check our ranks to ensure honest and healthy competition among ourselves," he said.

He said the FIAP has created a team in every region to check on quality and weight of fertilizer products being sold in retail outlets.

Panganiban had earlier warned erring fertilizer companies that their licenses will be cancelled if they are found selling substandard and underweight fertilizers to farmers.

"We will start apprehending and penalizing these companies that are reportedly engaged in mislabeling and are rampantly selling substandard fertilizer products," he said.

Previously, a loose organization of farmers in Pangasinan sought FPA intervention, saying they were being shortchanged with costly but substandard fertilizers being peddled by provincial dealers and retailers of the country’s three biggest fertilizer firms, namely: Swire Agricultural Corp., Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp. and Atlas Fertilizer Corp. Swire is also selling fertilizers under its affiliate company, Soil Tech Corp.

Teodulo M. Caranay, one of several farmers from Sual, Pangasinan which brought the matter to the FPA and the Department of Trade and Industry in Region II said he noted a significant decline in his palay yield which was traced to the use of Swire 14-14-14 and Atlas 16-20-0 fertilizer products. These products were bought from Abarra Agricultural and Poultry Supply, a dealer of Swire.

Caranay claimed that based on samples of these products submitted to the Bureau of Soils and Water Management, the items were found to be below specification standards. The same sampling and testing process on Atlas Fertilizer’s 14-14-14 also showed off-spec results.

"The use of off-spec fertilizer products by unsuspecting small farmers have resulted in poor harvest yield and slow growth of rice crops among others," said Caranay.