4.1 Status of the FertilizerIndustry
4.2 Inorganic FertilizerResources
4.3 Organic FertilizerResources
4.4 Marketing andDistribution
4.5 Directories of Importers,Manufacturers, and Distributors of Fertilizers
4.1 Status of the FertilizerIndustry
4.1.1 Fertilizer sales
4.1.2 Imports, production, andexports
4.1.3 Fertilizers used inaquaculture
4.1.1 Fertilizer sales
A total of 1,474,495 mt of inorganic fertilizers, mainly ingranulated form, were sold locally in 1994 (Table 56), with six fertilizerproducts representing 99% of the sales; these including urea or 46-0-0 (39.4%),complete or 14-14-14 (22.9%), ammonium sulfate or 21-0-0 (14.8%), monoammoniumphosphate or 16-20-0 (14.7%), potash or 0-0-60 (4.6%), and 18-46-0 or diammoniumphosphate (2.2%). Sales of these major grades for the period 1992-1994 are shownin Figures 31-32. Luzon currently accounts for 50-60% of the inorganicfertilizer market, Visayas 17-20%, and Mindanao 20-28% (Francisco Cornejo,pers.com.). Regions II, III, IV, VI, and XI are the biggestfertilizer markets representing nearly half of the total fertilizerconsumption.
An estimated 60% of fertilizer sales is used for food crops,principally rice and also corn (Yaptengco, Jr., 1991), with the remainder mainlyapplied to plantation crops such as coconut, banana, sugarcane, and pineapple.There is no record on the volume of organic fertilizer sales, processed andunprocessed. All organic fertilizers are sourced or manufacturedlocally.
4.1.2 Imports, production, andexports
Approximately 50-55% of the inorganic fertilizer supply and70-75% of the inorganic fertilizer utilization in the Philippines is imported.In 1994, for example, the Philippines imported an aggregate volume of 1,168,315mt of various fertilizer grades, with urea accounting for 57.5%, ammoniumsulfate for 23.4%, and muriate of potash for 6% (Table 57). Ammonium sulfate isespecially imported when the international market price is lower than that ofdomestic production. The majority of the finished fertilizer grades are sourcedfrom Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Indonesia, USA, and Korea. Other importantsuppliers include Bangladesh, Canada, CIS, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Qatar,Singapore, and UK.
Domestic fertilizer production in 1994 totalled 1,102,353 mt,largely in the form of 14-14-14, 16-20-0, and 16-16-8 (Table 57). The bulk ofthe 14-14-14 and about half of the 16-20-0 produced in the Philippines wasconsumed by the local market. A total of 697,739 mt of fertilizers were exportedin 1994, primarily as 16-16-8 (48%), 16-20-0 (22.6%), and 18-46-0 (13.6%). Thesein turn were purchased by Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Australia. Forthe manufacturer these various nutrient grades, local fertilizer plants dependpartly upon the use of imported raw materials such as rock phosphate, anhydrousammonia, and sulphuric acid.
4.1.3 Fertilizers used inaquaculture
The most widely applied fertilizer grades are urea and16-20-0. Urea is mainly used as a nitrogen source whilst 16-20-0 is appliedprimarily as a source of phosphorus. In some areas 18-46-0, and lesscommonly 14-14-14, are used instead of 16-20-0. Potassium is normally notregarded as a limiting nutrient. The only liquid fertilizer used in fishpondspresently is Algafer (11-3-4) which also contains naturally occurring growthpromotants from seaweed extracts. A fertilizer occasionally used by some shrimpfarmers is Negros island for enhancing plankton growth is calcium nitrate whichreportedly does not promote luminous bacterial bloom as urea does.
Chicken manure is the standard organic fertilizer used inaquaculture, although to a much lesser extent cattle and carabao manures,mudpress, and rice bran are also used. Guano or bat droppings are also apreferred fertilizer for fishponds but their supply is now scarce.
Inorganic and organic fertilizers are normally appliedtogether; Table 58 presents the inorganic nutrient grades the processed organicfertilizers used locally for aquaculture. The use and application of fertilizersin aquaculture is discussed further in Section 5.2.
4.2 Inorganic FertilizerResources
4.2.1 Importers
4.2.2 Manufacturers
4.2.1 Importers
As of 31 August 1995 there were a total of 90 registeredimporters (compared with only 27 in 1990) of which 66 are based in Metro Manila(Table 63). Importers generally source their requirements directly from foreignsuppliers or through indentors/traders. The major importers include: AtlasFertilizer, Farmix Fertilizer, Ferchemx, Fertiphil, La Filipina Uy Gongco,Modern Time Marketing, Norsk Hydro (Phil.), Parafert, Philippine PhosphateFertilizer, Philippine Planters Consumers, Planters Products, and SwireAgricultural Products. For the past five years, the top 10 importers accountedfor about 80% of the total import volume.
4.2.2 Manufacturers
The Philippines currently has four fertilizer manufacturingplants that produce various fertilizer grades for local use and for export(Figure 33); two fertilizer plants located in Luzon and the other two in theVisayas. Three of these plants produce phosphatic-based fertilizers whilst theremainder manufactures sulfate of potash. Table 59 summarizes their physicalfacilities and capabilities. The fertilizers manufactured locally include21-0-0, 16-20-0, 18-46-0, 16-16-9, 0-18-0 (single superphosphate), 0-46-0(triple superphosphate), 15-15-15, 14-14-14, 12-12-12, 16-16-8, 6-9-15, 0-0-60(muriate of potash), and 0-0-52 (sulfate of potash).
Three other chemical fertilizer plants ceased operationbetween the late 1970s and early 1980s due to uncompetitive production costs;these being Maria Cristina, Chemical Industries of the Philippines, and PlantersProducts.
4.3 Organic FertilizerResources
4.3.1 Animal manures
4.3.2 Processed organicfertilizers
4.3.3 Agricultural by-products andprocessing residues
A wide variety of organic materials can be used as fertilizersfor fishponds, such as animal manures (e.g. livestock dung, liquid manurefrom livestock holding facilities, night soil), agricultural by-products andprocessing wastes (e.g. hay, mudpress; cottonseed, groundnut, andsunflower seed cake; soybean wastes), green manures (e.g. grass, leaves,and reeds), domestic wastes (e.g. sewage), and industrial wastes (e.g.effluent from distilleries, leather and milk factories, sugar refineries,fish canning plants) (Hickling, 1962). The choice of the appropriate organicfertilizer should consider: the feeding habit of the cultured species, theeffect on the desired natural food organisms, cost, abundance, and proximity ofthe source to the fish farm. The following discussion focuses on the differentorganic fertilizer types that have or may have commercial value to aquaculturepractices in the Philippines.
4.3.1 Animal manures
Unlike inorganic fertilizers, animal manures not only providenutrients but also provide organic substrate vital for enhancing primaryproductivity within aquatic environments. Typical nutrient analyses of commonlyavailable manures are shown in Table 60. Of these, chicken manure is the mostvaluable in aquaculture because of its effectiveness in promoting natural foodgrowth, its availability, and its ease in handling and application.
Although the countrys chicken population based on the1994 inventory numbered 93,109,710 (Table 20), not all of these animalscontributed to the available manure resource. It is only with broiler and layerchickens that manure collection is practical and economical since all otherdomestic birds are either left to roam in the open or are not held in denseenough numbers. Broiler and layer chickens numbered 43,113, 420 in 1994 with atotal manure production of approximately 1,180,230 mt for the entireyear.
The main sources of chicken manure are the neighbouringprovinces of Batangas, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, and Cavite (Figure 34).Table 61 presents the estimated annual manure supply from the major provincesgrowing broiler and layer chickens. The demand of chicken manure as a fishpondfertilizer comes mainly from the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Capiz, Iloilo,Aklan, Negros Occidental, and Zamboanga del Sur. Panay island which has a highconcentration of fishponds relative to its total land area, is frequently shortin supply of chicken manure, especially during the summer months when fertilizeruse is heaviest. Consequently, it is now common practice for many farmers toreserve manure from poultry farms before it is even produced, or to buy in bulkduring the rainy months and store this for the summer.
A major manure resource that largely goes to waste are thoseproduced from livestock holding facilities (e.g. piggeries, cattlefattening farms, or dairy farms). Unlike poultry where the droppings can becollected as solids beneath the pen, the manure from these livestock facilitiesare flushed out with water in the form of slurry. This is collected in a manurelagoon, or disposed off as raw effluents in waterways (in some areas, thisactually causes serious pollution problems in aquaculture). As a result of thesehandling and transporting difficulties, manure slurry is generally of littlevalue in aquaculture and agriculture. Transporting manure slurry to fishponds isimpractical, laborious and costly, considering that many extensive farms thatwill benefit from its use are not that readily accessible by road.
The prospect of integrating milkfish, tilapia, or carp culturewith livestock farming in the Philippines has resulted in more failures thansuccesses. This has been attributed largely to the lack of the sufficient arearequired to efficiently utilize the effluents. A typical 1,000 head piggery, forexample, would require well over 1 5 ha of fishpond area (Delmendo, 1980). Inreality, very few livestock farms would posses this size of farm, or would bewilling to devote such an area at the expense of their expansion needs. In mostinstances manure lagoons are too small and inevitably turn into anaerobic ponds.Manure slurry may, however, find more practical use if the greater part of thesolids can be separated from the liquid component. An example of a slurryseparator designed for such an application is already available locally(Interworld Farms Inc., Rm. 1118 State Centre, 333 Juan Luna St., Binondo,Manila).
A few livestock farms utilize manure slurry for biogasproduction or treat this with bacterial/enzyme amendments in their manurelagoons to hasten organic matter decomposition. The quality of effluent producedfrom these treatments is considerably improved and can be used inaquaculture.
4.3.2 Processed organicfertilizers
Processed organic fertilizers are composed of a mixture ofanimal manures, agricultural wastes (e.g. mudpress), and limestone,composted for at least a week through biological, chemical, and mechanicalaction. These are usually enriched with primary and secondary nutrients, and insome cases also with trace elements. The product appears like soil or peat andnormally contains two to six times more nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium thanfresh manures. Albeit its use in aquaculture is still small, more farmers arelearning to adopt this non-traditional fertilizer especially when the supply ofchicken manure is scarce. Processed organic fertilizers is usually two or threetimes more costly compared to chicken manure
Because animal manures are a major ingredient in processedorganic fertilizers, it should not come as a surprise that many of themanufacturers are located near poultry and livestock farming centres (Figure33). Some of the largest manufacturers of organic fertilizers include VictoriasMilling Company, Sagana 100 Philippines, Galactic Resources Development, SunChemicals, and Datingbayan (Table 68).
It is interesting to note that a company in Negros Occidentalis currently building a plant for manufacturing pelletized organic fertilizerswith the help of foreign technology. The product is intended to be enriched withchemical fertilizers according to the requirement of specific agricultural cropsand soil types. The fertilizer is claimed to have superior nutrient availabilityand integrity, apart from having improved handling and storageproperties.
4.3.3 Agricultural by-products andprocessing residues
The Philippines, with its agricultural based economy, isabound in organic waste resources but only a small part of these are currentlybeing converted to processed organic fertilizers (Table 62). With regard totheir application in aquaculture, much of these agricultural wastes cannot beused directly as fertilizers because of their very low N-P-K level, highcellulose and lignin contents, wide carbon-nitrogen ratios, and in some caseshigh content of toxic organic chemicals.
Only mudpress and third class rice bran (D3) have so far foundapplication in fishponds although their utilization is not very common. Aproblem frequently encountered with mudpress and rice bran is that they tend toexude large amounts of organic pollutants in the water thus requiring flushingbefore the fish can be stocked. Moreover, mudpress is also not readilydecomposed causing the pond to become shallower with time. Mudpress though isusually available at no charge from sugar mills (Figure 35). Some farmers alsoreport that old powdery rice hull that has undergone several years ofdecomposition can also be used as an organic fertilizer for enhancing the growthof benthic natural food.
So as to promote the use of organic fertilizer in agriculturethe Department of Science and Technology (through the Philippine Council forAgriculture Resources, Research and Development) has been tasked to assist withthe development of compost fungus activator production centres nationwide, topromote composting, primarily in surrounding lowland irrigated rice farms, andto pursue research and development activities in this field.
4.4 Marketing andDistribution
4.4.1 Packaging
4.4.2 Marketing channels
4.4.3 Pricing
4.4.1 Packaging
Commercial granulated fertilizers are packed in wovenpolypropylene (PP) bags with polyethylene (PE) liners; the net content of eachbag being 50 kg. The mouth of the PE liner is manually tied with a string or isheat-sealed, while the PP bag is mechanically sewn. Organic fertilizers aresimilarly packed and mechanically sewn in 50 kg woven polypropylene bagsalthough plastic liners are normally not used. Most organic fertilizers aremarketed within the region they are produced.
4.4.2 Marketing channels
The Philippine fertilizer industry now operates largely undera free market system with the production, importation, marketing, anddistribution of fertilizers being handled by the private sector. Following thetrade liberation policy in 1 986, and the removal of levy and otherrestrictions, smaller companies engaged in agricultural trading were able tobreak into the fertilizer market once controlled only by a few private andgovernment-assisted firms.
The marketing of fertilizers passes through three main levels,namely: (a) importers/ manufacturers; (b) distributors; and (c) dealers (Figure36). All importations can only be made by FPA licensed importers and cover onlyproducts registered at the FPA. A directory of importers is given in Table 66and manufacturers in Tables 67 and 68.
The fertilizer distributors, or wholesalers, numbering around132, constitute the second level of fertilizer marketing (Table 68), and usuallycover several provinces or an entire region, and in turn sell to dealers oroutlets. A few importers are also distributors themselves and this provides themwith the advantage of direct market access.
The dealers constitute the last step of the marketing channeland are the ones in direct contact with the farmers. Because of the free marketsystem, most distributors also hold a dealer license, and sell directly in areaswhere there are no dealers, where local dealers are weak, or to plantationaccounts which do not require the networking advantage offered by the dealers.In many cases, it is therefore difficult to draw the line between distributorsand dealers. There are currently 1,253 FPA registered fertilizer dealers(excluding pesticide handlers) throughout the country. A complete list isavailable from the FPA.
Distribution
Imported fertilizers, as finished products in bulk or in bags,are discharged in major ports such as Manila and Poro Point in Luzon; Iloilo,Bacolod, and Cebu in the Visayas; and Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and General Santosin Mindanao. Figure 38 shows the geographical location of the major fertilizerport facilities and intermediate handling ports throughout the country. Thetransportation of fertilizers from major ports to the company warehouse andsubsequently to distributors and dealers are made mainly by inter-island vesselsand by road; approximately 85% is transported by boat and 15% by road (FADINAP,1992).
4.4.3 Pricing
The selling cost of inorganic fertilizers is generallydictated by the prevailing international market price, foreign exchange rate,and the local supply and demand situation as influenced by factors such aschanges in rainfall pattern, type of crop planted, calamities, and importerspeculation. Table 64 summarizes the average import and retail price of themajor fertilizer grades from 1983-1992. Typical costs involved in the pricing offertilizers are shown in Table 65. Since the industry was deregulated in 1986,the increased number of fertilizer handlers have resulted in lesser margins fortraders and better prices for the farmers. Organic fertilizers maintain a morestable cost; the price ranging from US$ 3-5/kg depending upon the level ofnutrient enrichment.
4.5 Directories of Importers,Manufacturers, and Distributors of Fertilizers
The following directories have been compiled,namely:
· Directory offertilizer importers (Table 66);
· Directory of inorganicfertilizer manufacturers (Table 67);
· Directory of organicfertilizer manufacturers (Table 68);and
· Directory of fertilizerdistributors (Table 69).
