Sugar block farms report increase in productivity

MANILA, Philippines - Several sugar block farms established by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) for pilot testing have reported a 29 percent average increase in productivity in crop year 2013-2014 from the previous crop year.

The SRA reported over the weekend the 19 pilot block farms in Luzon and Visayas harvested an average of 65.29 tons of cane per hectare during crop year 2013 to 2014, up from the average yield of 50.78 tons per hectare in 2012.

The SRA introduced the block farming system for sugarcane lands in 2012 in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Department of Agrarian Reform to increase productivity of cultivation areas.

Under the system, small farms of less than five hectares are consolidated into blocks of at least 30 hectares while preserving
ownership. Farm productivity is improved through the establishment of integrated sugar production systems and systematic provision of farm inputs and technical assistance.

Around 85 percent of sugarcane farmers in the country have land holdings of five hectares and below due to land division by inheritance, sale and award under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Sugarcane, being a plantation crop, requires farm sizes of at least 30 hectares for cost efficiency in production. SRA said with the aggressive implementation of CARP, landholders can no longer take advantage of economies of scale.

“This is aggravated by the fact that most of the present landowners (CARP beneficiaries) do not have the financial capability to provide the farm inputs which resulted in low productivity. This is one of the greatest hurdles that the sugarcane industry faces,” said the SRA in the report.

During crop year 2013-2014, individual block farms under the pilot program showed increases in productivity in the range of 7.47 to 100 percent.

The cooperative of agrarian reform beneficiaries of Hacienda Bernardita in Cadiz, Negros Occidental, for instance, was able to
increase its productivity by 7.47 percent to 82.75 tons of cane per hectare from 77 tons of cane per hectare.