The dry spell is expected to affect Negros Occidental’s sugar production, industry leaders said Friday, April 14.
Although intense heat is already being felt, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said El Niño will likely develop in the July-August-September (JAS) 2023 season and may persist until 2024.
Manuel Lamata, United Sugar Producers Federation president, said the dry spell will definitely cause a drop in sugar production.
Government should help download solar powered irrigation pumps to help the farmers irrigate the sugar fields, he said.
Enrique Rojas, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, said by the time that El Niño sets in, most planters will most probably have finished harvesting their canes. Thus, the El Niño will not have any effect on sugar production for Crop Year 2022-2023, he said.
For the crops in the next Crop Year 2023-2024, the sugarcane will most likely have already matured by the time that El Niño sets in. Thus, the projected sugar production next crop year will most likely not be affected, he added.
However, the dry spell poses a challenge to planters and millers. They should work together to ensure that the sugarcane are transported and milled as soon as possible after they are harvested to minimize the loss of sugarcane juice due to evaporation caused by the dry weather, Rojas said.
Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr., Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Associations president, said the effect of the dry spell will depend on one’s area.
He said farms that have irrigation will have better production, but for most areas where agrarian reform beneficiaries are located production will definitely go down.
Too much rain in the early part of the planting and the dry spell in the coming months is expected to cause a drop in sugar production, he said.
Meanwhile, some farmers in rainfed palay farms in Negros Occidental have not planted a second crop, Provincial Agriculturist Edmundo Causing said Friday.
Monitoring of water sources is being conducted, he said.*