While the companies that supply fertilizers used in agriculture claim to have enough in stock and that prices remain frozen since September 2021, producers of the southern region They state that these inputs register considerable increases in the national market.
The director of Institutional Relations of the company Fersan, Carlos Fernández, pointed out that the supply of raw materials has been assured and that they are fundamentally importing from the United States and Canada and for this reason they have had no difficulties in maintaining a good “stop” in the warehouse.
He added that the subsidy granted by the governmentthrough the “Siembra RD” program, has managed to keep the prices of these inputs stable, which are vital for national production.
In agreement with Fernández, the executive director of the company Abonos Dominicanos (Abodom), José Peralta Abreu, expressed himself, who indicated that the agreement with the Government was made to guarantee price and supply of the main nutrients used in fertilization in the country, such as: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur sulfate and other micronutrients.
He affirmed that the companies have sufficient raw material for the national supply of the chemical products that are used as fertilizers.
He stated that If the Government had not subsidized to keep prices stable, the country’s fertilization would have fallen more than it did. and it was not going to be sustainable for growers to fertilize. As an example, he said that urea (the most widely used raw material in fertilizer) is being sold per bag for around US$75 or US$80 without subsidy and with it it is sold for less than US$42.
“Imagine a rice producer, whose main nutrient is urea, the producer was going to have to buy it at twice the price, and he was going to have to increase his price enormously or he was not going to fertilize and this was going to cause a big drop in production”, explained Peralta Abreu, when consulted by Listín Diario.
producers complainThe president of Bloc of Producers and Associations of Peravia-ValdesiaCésar Ramírez, reported that the prices of fertilizers and manure have continued to increase and that in these the government subsidy has not been reflected at all.
He explained that they bought the sack of fertilizer for RD$1,100 or RD$1,200 for avocado, depending on the quality of the product, and that now it is RD$2,900.
Another producer in greenhouses in Rancho Arriba, San José de Ocoa, who preferred not to be identified, said that the fertilizers have risen 40%.
He argued that the fertilizers that are used the most have risen and that the other fumigation products have risen “to the million” and they can no longer say that it is because of the dollar.
“I bought the macro, which is one of the most used in greenhouses, at RD$960 and now it is at RD$2,280, and nitric acid, phospholic acid, which must be used daily because it is what unclogs the hoses and it gives consistency to the chili, we bought that in February for RD$3,200 and phospholic acid is RD$9,500 and nitric acid is RD$7,500”, said the producer.
He added that the soluble and fertilizers of all kinds that they use, have risen more than 40%. “What’s more, there are fertilizers that rose by up to 70%,” he emphasized.
Regarding the subsidy approved by the Government through the “Siembra RD” program to guarantee food security, the greenhouse producer from Rancho Arriba said that it did not reach the farmers and that “if it did, it was so that the products would rise more.”
He stated that in fumigation products doubled and that the subsidy was not reflected in any of those products.
“The acids, those are in jugs of 8 and 9 gallons and the fertilizers, there is one called El Micro that is very expensive, that one is almost RD$5,000 for 25 pounds. All those that I told you are two thousand and something, are 55 pounds and the fumigation supplies, insecticides, pesticides come in gallons and liters, and they are all expensive, ”he explained.