Agri sector to reach full potential with governemnt aid

CEBU, Philippines — An executive of Atlas Fertilizer Corp (AFC) believes the Philippine agriculture sector still has more room to grow given a sufficient government intervention.

Takashi Sumi, president of the fertilizer manufacturing company, said there is definitely a need to help the Philippine agriculture grow with the aid of farming technologies and the much needed government intervention.

"Technology is getting more important to farming today," he said in an interview at the sidelines of the company’s 60th anniversary celebration yesterday at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Sumi urged the government to subsidize farmers like what other Asian agricultural countries are doing.

Most countries subsidize the fertilizer used by their farmers.

He said the use of fertilizers is very vital in today's farming as it increases farm yield.

"Our rice harvest yield is still very small compared to other Asian countries such as China and Vietnam," he said.

In the Philippines, he said fertilizers and other farm inputs such as seeds and chemicals are not subsidized by the government.

He cited, for instance, that countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and India give bigger budget on ensuring food security, something the Philippines should look more into.

Sumi also said continued communication with the Department of Agriculture is important to address agricultural needs such as irrigation, mechanization, financial support and hybrid seeds.

Production

AFC, which has a manufacturing plant in Toledo City, Cebu, has a production capacity of 300,000 metric tons per annum, being the largest producer of compound inorganic fertilizer in the country.

AFC manufactures and sells mixed fertilizer grades or alternatively known as compound inorganic fertilizer and more famously called by farmers as the NP-NPK-NK fertilizers.

Additionally, the company also imports some of its compound fertilizer. The rest 10 percent of its raw material are sourced domestically.

Majority of its compound fertilizers are manufactured in its factory in Toledo City.

Also, the company imports 150,000 metric tons of single grade fertilizer.

Sumi said AFC provides about 25% of the fertilizer requirements in the Philippines.

He added that the Philippine fertilizer industry is a close to 2-million metric ton industry which has been growing 1.5 percent on a yearly basis.

The fertilizer manufacturer is also planning to rehabilitate its existing plant in Toledo to increase its capacity by 20-40 percent.

He said the factory renovation may take years to complete.

As of 2015, total local fertilizer market size in was 1.8 MT, but estimated total domestic production for NP/NPK was  419,000 metric tons. This means, the domestic demand is supplied by imports, which reached 1.381 million MT in 2015. Imported fertilizer come from China, Canada, Japan, and Indonesia. (FREEMAN)