BACOLOD City – Several sugar groups in Negros Occidental are urging the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to reconsider starting the milling season next month instead of September.
The Sugar Council, a group representing three planters federations and thousands of sugarcane farmers, pointed out that hectares of standing canes are due for harvest in August.
They said that in June last year, the national government urged them to start milling early.
They pointed out many sugar farmers supported the call, milling 432,356 tons as reported by SRA.
Consequently, the ratoon plants, estimated at 400,000 tons, are now mature, and delaying their harvest to September will cause them to become over-ripe, compromising purity and tonnage.
They stated that last year, five sugar mills in Negros Occidental started milling in August, with two mills commencing operations as early as Aug. 8 in response to the government’s call to mill the canes early due to sugar shortage.
The producers are looking forward to the start of milling this August, because the canes they planted after their early harvest last year are already ripe for milling.
In a letter signed by Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Associations, Inc. (CONFED) president Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr., National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) president Enrique Rojas, and Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (PANAYFED) president Danilo Abelita, they asked SRA acting administrator Pablo Luis Azcona to continue with the previous practice of commencing milling operations in August.
“The recent tropical storm “Dodong,” with its torrential rains and strong winds, caused mature canes to lodge. If left unharvested, the purity and weight of these distressed canes will suffer,” the group pointed out.
They further stated the farmers fear that any delays with the milling will lower the weight and sugar yield of the canes, resulting in lower sugar production and lesser returns for the farmers.
In view of the early start of milling last year, milling operations finished earlier than usual. Numerous sugar mills stopped milling in April this year, instead of the traditional May up to June. Consequently, some sugar farmers have had no income from their farms since April.
They also cited the need for fresh income by the producers, especially the small farmers, after months of no work in the farm.
Complicating the financial quandary of the sugar producers is the obligation to their farm workers, who have also been looking forward to getting back to work this August.
“Sugar farmers have already contracted cane cutters, and delaying milling to September will force them to financially support the workers or risk losing them,” the Sugar Council explained.
If milling will start on September 1 yet, this will create an overwhelming demand for farm workers, which are already in short supply, and for hauling services of truckers.
Farmers are apprehensive that this unprecedented demand for farm labor and hauling services will give rise to unhealthy competition, thereby driving up their production costs. (Watchmen Daily Journal)
