Skip to main content

Mango growers now need license to buy potassium nitrate

By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter

LAOAG CITY—Owing to occurrence of bombing incidents and terrorist threats around the country, the government now requires licenses to purchase potassium nitrate.

This development affects mango growers as the said chemical is important to induce more flowers for mango trees.

Potassium nitrate, however, is an active ingredient in manufacturing improvised explosive devices (IEDs); thus, the license requirement to ensure that the chemical will not land in terrorists’ hands.

Previously, anyone can buy potassium nitrate or even calcium nitrate in farm supply stores. This, however, is no longer the case as the Philippine National Police started regulating the sale of the said chemicals.

Even the chemicals’ sellers need to secure their own permits to sell them.

Appropriate charges and penalties await violators of this regulation, the police said. They added that the legal charges will be “non-bailable.

In view of this, Ricardo Tolentino, president of the mango growers’ association in this northern part of Luzon said they made an appeal to local authorities here if they could secure a license as an association to avoid adding more burden to individual farmers.

Mr. Tolentino said mango growers here have become dependent on using potassium nitrate in their mango plantations as it is more convenient for them to use instead of the traditional “smoking” technique which take about 25 days to induce the flowers of mango trees.

“In Ilocos Norte, I am the only one yet who have secured a license from [Camp] Crame [PNP national headquarters]. Only the members of our association can avail of it subject to monthly audit and monitoring from the PNP,” said Mr. Tolentino.


The Ilocos region covering Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan is one of the country’s major exporters of quality mangoes to Hongkong, Japan and other neighboring Southeast Asian nations. Hence, regulating the use of potassium nitrate may affect the mango industry, he said citing mango growers here are still recovering from previous losses due to typhoon and infestation of fruit flies.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Free dormitories eyed for Nueva Era students in LC, Batac

 Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Nueva Era , Ilocos Norte—The municipal government here, headed by Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida is planning to establish dormitories in the cities of Laoag and Batac that will exclusively cater to college students from the said cities. “Sapay la kuma ta maituloyen iti mabiit tay ar-arapaapen tayo ken iti munisipyo a maipatakderan kuma dagiti annak tayo a college students nga agbasbasa idiay siyudad iti Batac ken Laoag iti libre a dormitoryo a bukod da ngem inggana nga awan pay ket an-anusan mi paylaeng nga ibaklay kenni apo bise mayor iti pagbayad da iti kasera aggapu iti bukod mi a suweldo malaksid dagitay it-ited iti munisipyo ken iti barangay nga stipend da kada semester, ” Garvida said.    Garvida added that the proposed establishment of dormitories would be a big help to the students’ parents as this would shoulder the expenses of their children for rent and likewise they would feel more secured

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua

P29 per kilo rice sold to vulnerable groups in Ilocos region

BBM RICE. Residents buy rice for only PHP29 per kilo at the NIA compound in San Nicolas town, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. The activity was under a nationwide pilot program of the government to sell quality and affordable rice initially to the vulnerable sectors. (Lei Adriano) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte —Senior citizens, persons with disability, and solo parents availed of cheap rice sold at PHP29 per kilogram during the grand launching of the Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) Rice held at the National Irrigation Administration compound in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. “ Maraming salamat Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa inyong pagmamahal sa Region 1 lalong-lalo na sa bayan namin sa San Nicolas,” said Violeta Pasion, a resident Brgy.   18 Bingao in this town. The low-priced grains were sourced from the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) contract farming with irrigators' association members in the province. Along with Pasion, Epi