BACOLOD City – The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is expecting that the sugar production for crop year 2024-2025 will be five percent higher or 1.837 million metric tons (MT) from the initial estimate of 1.782 million MT.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said they are currently at 1.815 million tons of sugar produced, adding that, “despite the low sugar produced per ton of cane (LKGTC), we attribute the production on the increase in sugarcane tonnage per hectare planted.”
Visayas accounts for the biggest share of the total production at 71 percent with Negros Island accounting for 63 percent of the produce, while Panay contributes 6.3 percent, with the rest coming from the Cebu and Leyte plantations.
Mindanao which is touted to be the next frontier for the sugar industry is estimated to end the crop year with almost 24 percent of the country’s produce and Luzon contributing almost five percent of the total production.
Azcona said their initial estimate was quite low as “this was based on the health and assessment of the sugarcane after the extreme El Niño.”
“We are ending on a positive note and we can attribute this to the effort of this administration to prioritize research through development and propagation of new SRA sugarcane varieties, improving soil condition, irrigation, and even changing the sugarcane cropping calendar to better suit the climate are now paying off,” he said.
He added: “Fair farm gate prices encouraged farmers to risk replanting their El Niño damaged canes, using new SRA varieties. They were hopeful that prices would eventually make up for the very high cost of production. In fact, fair prices are also encouraging new farmers to plant sugarcane.”
The SRA further hopes they will get higher tonnage and more sugar per ton of cane in the next milling.
Mindanao currently has the highest average in terms of LkgTC at 1.74; Negros Island, 1.65; and Panay and Luzon, 1.54./PN
