The Fertilizer Industry and Philippine Agriculture: Policies, Problems, and Priorities
Briones, Roehlano M. | June 2017
Abstract
The fertilizer policy in the country has evolved from pervasive interventionism in the 1970s to today’s market-oriented regime. Government has abandoned price policies and subsidies, focusing rather on standard setting, quality regulation, and training. Over the same period, domestic demand for fertilizer has continually increased, though recently, resurgent fertilizer prices have reduced total utilization. Evidence suggests that farmers (at least in the case of rice) are underapplying fertilizer, forfeiting efficiency gains at the margin. On the supply side, imports have in the past few decades emerged as the main source of fertilizer, as domestic production has dwindled. With deregulation, numerous private sector players have taken over its distribution; analysis of the supply chain points to low marketing margins. Integration analysis fails to find systematic arbitrage opportunities between the domestic and world markets. Within the domestic market, however, there remain large disparities in prices across regions. Priorities for research and policy are therefore understanding the behavior of farmers in terms of fertilizer application, and addressing internal price disparities, perhaps by improved transport infrastructure and logistics.
Citation
Briones, Roehlano M.. 2017. The Fertilizer Industry and Philippine Agriculture: Policies, Problems, and Priorities. © Philippine Institute for Development Studies. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/7658.ISSN
2508-0954
2508-0849 (electronic)
Keywords
Diseases
Agricultural education
Sustainable development
Environmental management
Safety Education
Water Quality
Animal Diseases
Chemical Fertilizer
Agriculture
Sustainable agriculture
Commercial agriculture
Fertilizer Industry
Agricultural diversification
Agricultural resource
Farm produce
Rice farming
Soil science
Agricultural information network
Agricultural landscape management
Farm management
Agricultural innovations
Technological innovations
Agricultural processing industry
Alternative agriculture
Organic dairy farming
Organic floriculture
Organic viticulture
Produce trade
Crop
Organic gardening
Export
Import
International competition
Commercial policy
International trade
Farm population
Agricultural population
Food
Food Supply
Farm supply industry
Produce trade
Fertilizers and Manures
Organic Fertilizers
Artificial Fertilizers
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