SRA cuts sugarcane output estimate

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has slashed its estimated sugarcane output for crop year 2011-2012 to 2.242 million metric tons from its initial estimate of 2.40 million MT.

Based on field reports of the SRA’s Mill District Development Committees (MDDCs), cane tonnage declined by 18 to 20 percent compared to the previous crop year, particularly in the major sugar-producing region of Negros.

SRA observed that the rate of harvesting this crop year (September 2011 to August 2012) is faster compared to the previous crop year (September 2010 to August 2011), resulting in the early harvest in the major sugarcane-producing provinces.

The SRA has closely monitored the remaining canes in the field and reports showed that milling would end early especially in Negros.

The cane production figure reported by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (DA-BAS) in calendar year 2011 stands at 28.38 MT, while the record of SRA shows that for the current crop year 2011-2012 (September to December), only 8.02 million metric tons cane was milled.

The 2011 report of DA-BAS, which is based on an annual year, actually covers the partial production figures of two succeeding crop years (2010-2011 and 2011-2012).

According to SRA administrator Regina Martin-Bautista, “sugar production is not reckoned on a calendar year basis as this will mislead us in estimating our actual sugar production for the entire cropping cycle of sugarcane.”

She explained that in the agriculture sector, production reports and performance in agriculture being reported by the DA-BAS are used for the national statistics and for budgetary purposes, so these are based on a calendar year.