The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) is urgently requesting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to provide subsidy coupons to sugar farmers to alleviate the rising cost of diesel fuel.
Diesel fuel comprises 30 to 40 percent of the cost of sugarcane production, UNIFED president Manuel Lamata said on Sunday, March 8.
The appeal follows warnings of massive fuel price hikes brought on by the Middle East tensions, particularly involving shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and drone strikes on energy infrastructure.
Lamata also said with the incoming El Niño, sugar farmers will also be using a lot of fuel for irrigation, he added.
“We are hoping for urgent help from the President,” Lamata said, noting that without a targeted subsidy, the combination of high input costs and the looming dry season could severely hamper the industry’s productivity for the upcoming milling season.*
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