Sugar production is expected to drop by 7 to 9 percent nationwide this crop year, Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said on Tuesday, May 12.
If the milling season ends early the drop could be larger, but if it continues the decline might not be as significant, he said.
Azcona said that individual farmers in northern and central Negros Occidental are seeing a drop in production due to crop damage caused by the red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) and the floods.
A 9 percent drop in production is about 180,000 tons raw sugar, Azcona told DIGICAST NEGROS.
“That will not necessarily mean a drop in refined sugar production, as refined is processed by refineries, so we may drop in raw production but refined may not drop, depending on the refineries performance” , he said.
Azcona said 180,000 is an assumption based on 9 percent of last year’s 2.085 million ton production, which is the worst case scenario, as of this time, he said.
“We will confirm when significant milling has ended. Currently, if we base it on a comparison from September to present, raw sugar production is down by 7 percent,” he said.
Azcona said the production drop for the 2026–2027 crop year could be even more severe due to rising prices for farm inputs.
Fertilizer and fuel costs have climbed because of unrest in the Middle East, while the country is simultaneously faced with a dry spell, he said.
Farmers are cutting down on irrigation expenses, he said.
“Instead of irrigating to make our sugarcane grow better, we are just irrigating for survival and waiting for the rain,” Azcona said.
He also noted that fertilization has dropped by 30 to 40 percent.
Despite a limited budget, the SRA has been releasing fertilizer assistance, Azcona said.
The SRA board has decided to convert funds from non-essential projects into additional farm input assistance, he said.
They are pushing for government sugar buying and hope to receive word on it, Azcona said.*
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