The real survivor

If there is one sector of Philippine agriculture that has demonstrated its unswaying belief that the Filipino can do it, it is the local sugar industry.

Sugar mills and refineries continue to invest billions in the modernization and rehabilitation of their facilities in the belief that the country cannot and should not depend on the world market for its sugar requirements.

Thus, in the early 1990s, about 16 sugar mills embarked on a modernization program, investing more than P11 billion until 1999 in imported new equipment and machinery. Unregistered investments or those not made under the BOI’s rehabilitation and modernization program reaching P9 million, including locally acquired equipment. And from 2001 until 2004, about nine mills spent another P3.3 billion for the program.

Inspite of three major disasters that struck the Philippine sugar industry, namely the monopoly years of 1974 to 1983 which sucked the industry dry, the agrarian reform program which made investments in agriculture risky, and the advent of the trade liberalization regime, the local sugar sector remains healthy, thanks to the sugar farmers, millers, refiners, and other stakeholders who never lost hope.

To lay a strong groundwork for the future, farmers and millers voluntarily contributed about P60 to P80 million a year (P2 per bag of sugar produced) to the establishment of a world class sugar research facility run by the private sector. The increased production and productivity of our sugar industry was no miracle. It resulted from the use of high-yielding varieties produced by this facility and the adoption of various farm and mill best practices (proving to all and sundry that the saying "old dogs cannot learn new tricks" is not necessarily true, especially if you appeal to their selfish interest and show them how their condition will improve, according to Philippine Sugar Millers Association executive director Jose Ma. Zabaleta).

The sugar industry, of course, is blessed in having a very dynamic partner in government, no less than Administrator James Ledesma of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, himself a visionary. The farmers and millers are thus working hand in hand with the SRA in bringing new technology and practices to the farms and mills.

The future is no doubt very bright for the local sugar industry. Sugar is once again a major dollar earner for the country, not to mention that it saves valuable dollars by avoiding the need for sugar imports. The industry has once again become self-sufficient and is in fact a net exporter. There is a renewed interest in the production of ethanol locally, a product that will not only save the country much-needed foreign exchange from not importing fuel additives but will also help make our air cleaner. There is also a growing interest in utilizing bagasse (a residue from sugarcane obtained after juice is extracted from the cane) as a source of energy through cogeneration. Presently, all sugar mills without refineries are generating power only for their own consumption but the local sugar milling industry has the potential to generate 1,400 to 3,400 gigawatt-hours (Gwh) annually.

Whoever is saying that the local sugar industry is a sunset industry must be out of his mind.

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