inflation in the rice fields

 we mainly use organic fertilizer for our organic rice, but do grow non organic rice on some of our fields.

So Kuya complained last night that the price of fertilizer has increased greatly in the last year, which means less profit for our farmers.

From the Inquirer:

The sharp increase in fertilizer prices has prompted several farmer groups to renew their call on the Department of Agriculture (DA) for a onetime production subsidy of P15,000 for small-scale farmers who each own less than three hectares. In a statement, the Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women, Bantay Bigas and Anakpawis Partylist noted that prices of urea—the most basic type of fertilizer used in planting rice—surged by between 49 and 53 percent this month in the major rice-producing provinces of Nueva Ecija and Isabela against quotations between December last year and April this year. 

italics mine. 

why has this happened? This article blames the lockdowns.

Due to the shortage of labor and the shutdown of fertilizer plants located in the integrated chemical complexes, shipments were affected in the initial lockdown process.

countries with natural gas resources can make their own urea fertilizer but many need to import it.

It seems to be a widespread problem: I checked out various trade publications, but they all seem to say the price has been going up for awhile. Much of this is not my area of expertise, so I am mainly noting the problem.

intensive cultivation (2 or three crops a year) mean you need fertilizer. 

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and right now we have heavy daily monsoon rains made worse by Typhoon Fabian nearby, which mean it is hard to decide when we should start plating the rice.

and Manila streets are flooded: this is common, alas, due to the low lying land and because the sewers don't drain the water: not enough drainage and clogging of drainage by litter etc.