BACOLOD City – The United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) is urging the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to fast-track inspection and demands proper calibration of sugar mill equipment.
UNIFED president Manuel Lamata said he questioned the integrity of sugar mills after “very doubtful” results of LKGTC or 50 kilo bag per ton of cane of their members’ produce as released by the mills.
“We have had truckloads of canes which reportedly have 0 LKGTC as extracted by the mills which makes us suspect that something strange is going on,” Lamata said.
He added that sugar groups were allowed before to have their own chemists in the mills to check the veracity of mills’ extractions but this practice has been discontinued since.
Lamata said that while the long drought will have an effect on the LKGTC, “the results so far have been suspect and we urge the SRA to ensure that mill equipment are calibrated so as not to shortchange our sugar farmers.”
SRA Administrator Pablo Azcona on November 4 has ordered the creation of inspection teams in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to conduct random inspections focusing on analyzing samples sucrose content, Brix and apparent purity” after it received complaints from farmers of very low to 0 LKGTC results since they started milling last month.
Lamata said he is hoping that mills are not taking advantage of the farmers and asked the Department of Agriculture and SRA to ensure that the planters are protected from this situation.
Average figure in the past was 1.7 LKGTC on 50 tons per hectare but since the start of the milling season it has gone down to 1.44 LKGTC./PN
