The National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) on Thursday, August 13, demanded for more tangible solutions from the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration to address the compounding problems besetting the sugar industry.
“This year, sugar prices have dropped to their lowest level for the past three or four crop years, mainly due to the accumulation of over importation for the past years. Millgate prices have dropped below the production cost of most marginal farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries, compelling them to seriously reconsider continuing sugarcane cultivation in the future,” NFSP President Enrique D. Rojas said in a press release.
Aside from this self-inflicted damage to millgate sugar prices, the sugar industry is also suffering from natural calamities, particularly the rampage caused by the RSSI infestation, damage from typhoons, heavy monsoon rains and floods, and the forthcoming drought due to the El Niňo phenomenon, Rojas said.
“I have been a sugar farmer for more than half a century. In my more than 60 years of experience, we have faced numerous problems at one time or another, but the present situation is the worst, because all possible problems – low prices, erratic weather conditions, declining farm productivity and pests – cropped up almost at the same time,” Rojas said.
“For our industry to survive, something needs to be done, and done fast, or else there will be no more sugar industry in the near future,” he warned.
While he noted that cash assistance to farmers with RSSI-affected sugarcane farms is a big help to small sugar farmers, he believes cash distribution cannot replace institutionalized programs for immediate containment, control and eradication of recurring pests like the RSSI.
About 93,000 hectares has been reportedly affected by RSSI infestation in the Visayas, with approximately 70 percent of the infested sugarcane cane farms being in Negros. In Panay, the Iloilo provincial government has expressed alarm and is preparing tighter biosecurity measures, after about 7,000 hectares of sugarcane farms in the province have been reported to suffer from RSSI infestation, the press release said.
Rojas called on the DA and SRA to lead the way in crafting pro-active measures, in consultation with all industry stakeholders, on how to address the industry’s problems.
Meanwhile, the NFSP president expressed confidence that revisiting the SRA Charter, or Executive Order No. 18 of 1986, and the SIDA Law of 2015 is the right approach in improving the structure of, and institutionalizing government support for the sugar industry.
“We need to increase the budget for support services to our sugar farmers, especially on the crop loans and technical assistance aspects; ensure that policy-making is truly consultative and more inclusive with the participation of all stakeholders; adopt rational sugar importation policies; and, institutionalize mechanisms which can empower the industry to readily and capably respond to future challenges,” Rojas said.*
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