SRA head urges stakeholders to back new law

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) urged stakeholders in the sugar industry to unite for the implementation of the Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015.

SRA administrator Ma. Regina Martin said the industry “has achieved so much in the past five years,” even as tariffs on sugar traded within Southeast Asia had been reduced to five percent this year.

The Philippines has also not imported sugar in the past five years and has maintained a secure foothold in the lucrative US sugar market.

“What it takes is for us to get together, making sure that each one of use with his or her expertise, provide the necessary inputs for the sugarcane industry,” said Martin in the ongoing strategic planning workshop budget and programs review for the years 2016 to 2018 in Pampanga.

The planning workshop, with the theme “Govern and Deliver: Towards Competitiveness and Sustainable Development of the Philippine Sugarcane Industry is aimed at discussing proposed inter-agency plans, budget and programs for the implementation of the law.

Under the law, the SRA serves as the conduit of programs proposed by industry-related government agencies.

The centerpiece program of the law is the creation of more sugar block farms to attain economies of scale in sugarcane farming.

Under the block farming scheme, farmers with landholdings of less than two hectares – usually agrarian reform beneficiaries – are encouraged to group their production areas into integrated farm blocks.

Each block farm comprising 30 hectares to 50 hectares of combined sugarcane cultivation lands would have an integrated production process covering land preparation, planting, fertilization and harvesting.

The sugar regulatory agency has been expanding the coverage of the block farming scheme in milling districts in the Visayas. In 2012, the agency launched the first phase of the block farming scheme in Batangas province where 16 sites have been established.