Villar shocked over P10-billion budget for inorganic fertilizer

Senator Cynthia Villar yesterday berated the Department of Agriculture (DA) over the agency’s plan to import P10 billion worth of inorganic fertilizer.

She also said she was “shocked and upset” on the budget request.

“I’m very upset on the P10-billion budget for import of inorganic fertilizer. I cannot imagine that    we will spend P10 billion for inorganic fertilizer which is bad for our soil,” Villar, chairperson of  the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, said.

She noted that 38 percent of the country’s soil have already degraded due to inorganic fertilizer, adding that Organic fertilizer are safe for the soil.

The permanent solution to the need of fertilizer, she said, is for the country to produce its own.

Presiding over the Senate hearing on the proposed budget of the    DA,  Villar told agriculture officials to get rid of “importation mentality.”

She said farmers can make their own organic fertilizer at a very    low cost using composting facilities.

“We have many wastes, such as kitchen and garden wastes which compromise 50% of our wastes. They’re just everywhere,” Villar said.

Villar said the agency should focus on buying composting machines. To date, the agency has 89 composting facilities which make 89 tons of fertilizer    being distributed to farmers and gardeners.

The senator also scored the Bureau of Soil and Water Management (BSWM) for stopping its purchase of composting facilities.

Villar also disclosed the BSWM rejected her P2 billion offer to buy composting facilities.

Villar further said that the DA also wanted to import palay seeds although hybrid palay seeds are available in the country.

She expressed her dismay as the country’s agriculture sectors continues to lag behind its neighboring countries, such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.