ORIENTAL MINDORO | August 30, 2022 – As part of the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority’s mandate to educate the agricultural sector on the use of fertilizer and pesticide products, FPA RFU-IV held a training on Accredited Safety Dispenser (ASD) for fertilizer and pesticide dealers last August 24-25, 2022 at El Puebo Rhizort, Mahal na Pangalan, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. 

The training was attended by 95 participants, 83 from Oriental Mindoro and 12 from Occidental Mindoro. The said training is one of the requirements for acquiring an FPA dealership license.

ASD’s responsibilities include advising buyers/end-users on the safe use, handling, and storage of fertilizer and pesticide products, keeping records of fertilizer and pesticide product sales and disposition, making them available for inspection by FPA, and ensuring that only FPA-registered fertilizer and pesticide products are dispensed. 

The topics discussed during the training include FPA governing rules and regulations, general information about pesticides, safe handling of pesticides, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), recognition and first aid management of pesticide poisoning cases, soils, fertilizer, safe handling of fertilizer, and good housekeeping. 

The activity also served as an avenue to update the FPA stakeholders on the current policies and issuances of the Agency, especially those related to fake and off-specification fertilizer products. 

Regional Officer (RO) Suzettie Alcaide reminded the dealers to be cautious about purchasing fertilizer products and ensure that their supplies will only come from legitimate distributors to ensure quality products. She also emphasized that as licensed dealers, they should serve as a partner of FPA to ensure strict implementation of FPA rules and regulations. 

Further, she appealed to always protect the interest of the farmers in doing their business. “If we will sell fake and ineffective products to our farmers, the tendency is that they will not probably get a good yield and they will go bankrupt, which will eventually discourage them from planting for the next cropping season, and if that will happen, your business will also be affected as a consequence. It is a domino effect, so please, let us protect our farmers, our consumers, and the Philippine agriculture industry,” Ms. Alcaide said.  

RO Alcaide was accompanied by her team composed of , Mr. Dexter Oliver O. Leynes, Mr. Froilan T. Bañaga, Mr. Allan Jade V. Rojo, Mr. Mark Nicky S. Larga and Ms. Georlene P. Orbista, Agriculturist II of Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Cavite, Laguna and Marinduque, and Batangas, respectively. Additionally, Mr. Engracio “Bong” Baral, Operations Manager of Zeal Ecological Nature (ZENCOR) Corp., also serves as a speaker on pesticide safe handling as part of their product stewardship program. ###