The Sugar Regulatory Administration is consolidating data on the extent of the El Niño drought damage to sugarcane, especially in southern Negros.
Manuel Lamata, United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines president, said about 100,000 hectares of sugarcane fields in Negros have been affected by the extreme heat brought on by the El Niño phenomenon.
This will cause billions of pesos in loses, he said.
‘Let’s pray that it will rain”, Lamata said.
The SRA may have a report on the extent of the damage by next week, Ma. Lourdes Almodiente, Chief Agriculturist of the Visayas Extension Services Division of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, said.
Cloud seeding operations are being considered, she said.
She said there is still rain in Cebu, Leyte, Panay and Northern Negros, it is south Negros that has been badly hit.*