29 new sugar block farms pushed

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) for the establishment this year of 29 new sugar block farms, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao.

This is the second phase of the block farming scheme initiated by the SRA to make local sugar production more efficient and less costly. The first phase was implemented in Batangas towns last year.

The block farms comprise agricultural lands belonging to beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Under the agreement, SRA will provide technical assistance in managing the block farms but ownership of the parcels of land will remain with agrarian reform beneficiaries.

SRA administrator Ma. Regina Bautista-Martin said the 29 new block farms support DAR’s goal of improving the agribusiness technical and entrepreneurial skills of CARP beneficiaries.

The establishment of the sugar block farms is also expected to increase the farm-based income of the beneficiaries. 

SRA and DAR have earmarked a total of P41.4 million for the establishment of the 29 sugar block farms. Of this amount, P29 million will come of DAR while 12.4 million will come from the Department of Agriculture and the SRA in the form of technical assistance and livelihood support.

Participants in the second phase of the block farming scheme will be given access to credit from the Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP), a credit program implemented by the DA, DAR and state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines for CARP beneficiaries.

The second phase of the block farming scheme will cover eight block farms in Negros Occidental, six in Negros Oriental, five in Bukidnon, two in Iloilo and two in North Cotabato.

The provinces of Tarlac, Batangas, Albay, Antique, Capiz and Davao del Sur will implement one block farm each.

The block farming scheme is a component of the sugar industry roadmap to encourage farmers to group their production areas together into an integrated farming block. This will make the production process – land preparation, planting, fertilization and harvesting – more cost-efficient and more profitable per area.

Under the block farming system, small farms of less than 10 hectares will be consolidated through joint ventures. A block farm should comprise an area of between 30 to 50 hectares.

The government aims to have around 100 block farm sites by 2015.

In 2012, the SRA launched the first phase of the block farming scheme in Batangas province. The first phase covered 16 sites of block farms in the towns of Tuy, Lian, Nasugbu and Balayan. 

The average sugar cane yield per hectare is currently placed at 60 tons. The goal is to eventually increase this to 70-80 tons per hectare through improvements in the production process and increased farm mechanization.

The Philippines is preparing sugar farmers for the tough competition resulting from the implementation of the free trade agreement within the ASEAN region by 2015 when tariffs on many agricultural goods would be lowered to five percent to even zero.

The local sugar industry is particulary threatened by the influx of cheap sugar from Thailand which can strongly compete with local produce and pull down domestic prices.

The Philippines remains a sugar exporter with the United States as its major market.

The SRA has announced that sugar export prospects have been identified in India, Korea, Indonesia and the Middle East.