Sugar leaders on Sunday, December 4, welcomed the holding of an industry summit and the consolidation of sugar farms to boost production.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez met with senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Joseph Victor Ejercito on Friday, December 2, to discuss the holding of a summit in January to craft a plan to make the Philippine sugar industry globally competitive for it to survive.
There is a need to consolidate sugar farms in the Philippines for efficient, productive and sustainable economies of scale, Benitez said.
Enrique Rojas, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, said “We welcome the proposed consolidation of sugarcane farms. Sugarcane is a plantation crop which demands economies of scale. A farmer needs to cultivate a wide area to minimize costs and maximize production, and thus guarantee a reasonable return on investments.”
Consolidation of sugarcane farms is a step towards the right direction, he said.
The sugar summit will provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to come up with a united stand in addressing the problems of the industry. The summit will serve as a venue for the industry to identify problems, agree on solutions and thus move in the same direction in the years to come, Rojas said.
Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, said he is looking forward to this consolidation of lands because this will increase production and self-sufficiency can be achieved.
“We have always believed that for a sugar farm to be productive it has to be plantation size. This is supported by a lot of studies. We have pointed this out a long time ago but as the politicians who pushed for land reform said it is not an economic issue but more of a social issue,” Aurelio “Bodie” Valderrama, Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations president, said.
Valderrama said with a sugar summit they can address issues that can increase productivity, like the full utilization of the Sugar Industry Development Act funds , the formation and expansion of the block farms, and collaboration and cooperation of all stakeholders.*