Newport-Fersan, AgriMin exploring four initiatives for cheaper fertiliser

Newport-Fersan, Jamaica’s sole manufacturer of fertiliser, is expecting next week to receive the results of a study it commissioned Market Research Services to undertake regarding the real impact of fertiliser prices on farming operations.

There have been rising concerns regarding spikes in fertiliser prices and Newport-Fersan, which is headed by Managing Director Dennis Valdez, says it’s doing the impact assessment study, which got under way in early August, to guide its response.

The company is also developing new formulations that will be more economically priced for farmers – a task that Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries Floyd Green has asked it to prioritise.

The cost of raw materials to produce fertiliser has been trending up since June, emanating from supply challenges and record-high freight prices, Newport-Fersan explained. The company initially responded with single-digit increases for its fertiliser, but prices eventually fluctuated higher last month, averaging 15 per cent more.

The big jump in the price of fertiliser sparked an outcry from farmers, many of whom were already burdened by market fallouts from the pandemic and batterings from tropical storms.

Newport-Fersan says the study it commissioned will help the company better understand how farmers apply fertilisers on different crops, and gain insight on how farmers compute fertiliser costs per crop.

Business Development Manager of Newport-Fersan, Hedda Rose-Dunkley, says the company will use the information gathered to train farmers on more efficient application techniques and to provide guidance on costings.

“That study that we have done is to further a conversation that we want to have with our farmers to help them break down their spending on fertilisers and how to use the product more efficiently,” Rose-Dunkley told the Financial Gleaner.

“Some farmers use hundreds of pounds of fertiliser when it’s not required, but tradition dictates that you have to use a lot of fertiliser to get good yields,” she said.

With no guarantee that its own costs of producing the input won’t continue to rise, leading to more price increases to the farmers, Newport-Fersan turned to the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries for assistance in educating the farmers on different application techniques.

They emerged from the meeting with four initiatives that the parties could undertake to drive prices down for farmers, Rose-Dunkley said, but for now Minister Green has asked Newport-Fersan to focus on exploring new and cheaper fertiliser formulations.

The other three initiatives between the ministry and Newport-Fersan, which were not disclosed, are still being worked through.

In the meantime, Newport-Fersan is already seeking yet another meeting with Green, this time to update it on the new formulations that had been in development even before their confab, after which a decision will be made around the development and commercialisation of the lower-priced input, Rose-Dunkley said.

The company is somewhat wary, however, of how receptive the farmers will be to the cheaper formulations.

“That traditionally has been our biggest problem – farmers not wanting to change – but what’s important is to be authentic in our conversations and to get a public education campaign around it,” she said.

Rose-Dunkley said the educational campaign, on which Newport-Fersan hopes to partner with the ministry, also incorporates sensitisation around the new formulations. The campaign is separate from the other four initiatives agreed to with the agriculture ministry.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com