Falling in line for Durabloom

By Sosimo Ma. Pablico

The spiraling prices of inorganic fertilizer could very well be the primary factor that pushes farmers to look for the best and most available organic fertilizer in the country today as a partial replacement for costly imported chemical fertilizer.  However, the capability to produce high quality bio-organic fertilizer would dictate who among the organic fertilizer manufacturers in the country would be able to supply the requirements of farmers without any government intervention.
 

It is now very clear that farmers who mean business are more than willing to pay for the high quality bio-organic fertilizer like Durabloom, a product of Novatech Agri-Food Industries which is owned and managed by Berlin-trained Dr. Ronaldo A. Sumaoang, the only bio-organic fertilizer manufacturer in the country with the right training for this kind of enterprise. 

From all indications, Durabloom appears to be the most sought after bio-organic fertilizer in the country now as orders from various places in the country are continuously being received by Novatech.  For one thing, it is very much different from the kind of organic fertilizer that is being sold by others who want to ride in the organic fertilizer bandwagon. It is made mostly of chicken dung, which research has proven as the best raw material for organic fertilizer.  Moreover, it contains microorganisms and enzymes that are not present in the other brands.

In Iloilo alone, members of the Northern Iloilo Corn Producers Association, Inc. [NICPAI] have placed an order of 60,000 bags of Durabloom for the present cropping season. Weekly deliveries of one to two boat loads of the bio-organic fertilizer from Wellisa Farms in Bantayan Island, Cebu started in early May. Amazingly, the cargo trucks of NICPAI and the individual members are already at the ports in Estancia and Ajuy, Iloilo as soon as the boat arrives in the morning.

Every NICPAI member wants to get his order soonest but the load of each boat has to be divided among them to avoid any problem, as a boat can only carry as much as 4,450 bags of the fertilizer. Novatech marketing manager Armand Pabiania has to be at the ports in Iloilo every time the boats dock to ensure that NICPAI members get a part of their fertilizer requirements.  However, Wellington Chanlim, president and CEO of Wellisa Farms in Bantayan Island, the biggest Novatech franchisee, hopes to solve the slow delivery of the fertilizer soon when his new boat, the MV Durabloom, will be already sailing the Philippine seas.  The MV Durabloom will have a capacity of 18,000 bags.

Even farmers who are not NICPAI members also want a share from the boat deliveries. In one instance, two farmers went to the port with their tricycles and begged to be sold 10 bags of Durabloom each, as they cultivate only a hectare each.  They said they have seen the performance of corn applied with Durabloom and so they also want to use it on their crop. They heard that Durabloom was being unloaded from the boat and, hence, they hurriedly came with P4,000 each as they learned that a bag costs P400. From the two farmers’ faces, Armand knew then that they were really serious and wanted to use Durabloom and so he sneaked out 20 bags from the NICPAI order. Do the other manufacturers get this kind of farmers’ response?  I doubt!

Actually, even as the delivery for the present cropping season was not yet complete as we were writing this column, NICPAI had already made another order of 100,000 bags of Durabloom for the next cropping season.  Indeed, this is a great indication of their trust on the product. 

Antique farmers are not left behind.  As we write this column, two boat loads have been delivered to Antique already and another two boat loads were expected to be delivered in the following weeks.  Armand expects more orders from Antique soon and soon the distributor will already follow NICPAI in making an order for the next cropping season.

In Capiz, Bert and Malou Alcansaren of President Roxas town have made an order of 30,000 bags for this season. One boat load was delivered towards the end of May and the couple wants continuous delivery. They are going to use Durabloom in their financing schemes for corn farmers to replace more than half of the usual inorganic fertilizer recommendation.

I would venture to speculate that no other organic fertilizer manufacturer has received such huge orders from the farmers. No under the table or over the table deals are involved and both the farmers and manufacturer stand to benefit the relationship. What’s more, the orders are already paid before the boats dock at the ports.

Truly, the government does not need to get involved in the purchase and distribution of bio-organic fertilizer if the products are indeed truly bio-organic. The Department of Agriculture need not give low quality organic fertilizers to the farmers even for free, as the farmers will not use them.  High quality product will sell itself even without government intervention as in the case of  Durabloom.  All that the manufacturers need would be the approval of their applications for ACEF loan to expand their production capability.

Indeed, the provision of no-interest production loans to the manufacturers should be the kind of government involvement in the production of bio-organic fertilizer. The DA should cut all those bureaucratic red tapes in the approval of legitimate applications.

(Readers may reach columnist at spablico@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/harvest-time/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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