BACOLOD City – The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) said the ongoing El Niño would bring benefits and risks to sugarcane farmers.
Hot weather conditions will help make the sugarcane sweeter, according to UNIFED president Manuel Lamata in an interview over Bombo Radyo-Bacolod over the weekend.
However, if the sugarcane field suffers from poor water supply, production for the upcoming year will also be affected.
Among the solutions that Lamata proposed to the government was to procure additional solar-powered irrigation systems.
The UNIFED president also said the hot weather would not affect sugar prices.
Last week, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration declared the onset of El Niño, a weather phenomenon wherein the ocean’s surface temperature becomes warm, resulting in less rainfall.
The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist of Negros Occidental had proposed a P15-million El Niño budget. But the provincial government asked for a more detailed plan for its use.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz, meanwhile, assured residents of Negros Occidental that the provincial government has sufficient funds to finance programs designed to counter the adverse effects of a long dry spell, including the agriculture industry.
Local government units in Western Visayas were earlier told by the Department of Agriculture to form their respective El Niño taskforces early to help mitigate calamities related to the dry conditions. (Watchmen Daily Journal)
