• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The sugar production for crop year 2026-2027 is anticipated to drop by seven to nine percent nationwide, due to rising farm input costs, reduced fertilization, high fuel prices, and prolonged dry conditions that are affecting sugarcane farms.
Pablo Luis Azcona, administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, however, said the production drop would depend on how long the current milling season continues.
“The only factor that we are waiting for is when the milling ends. If it ends early, then we will see a bigger drop. If it continues as long as [it did] last year, then the drop might not be significant,” said Azcona, who joined SRA Board Member-Planter Representative Dave Sanson in the distribution of P14.8 million worth of farm implements to 193 block farms in the Visayas on May 12 in La Carlota City.
A nine percent drop in production is estimated by Azcona to be at around 180,000 tons of raw sugar.
He noted that farmers in northern and central Negros have already reported substantial declines in production per farm, as growers cut back on spending, amid escalating costs.
“The problem for the next crop year is the increase in the price of inputs,” Azcona said, explaining that farmers now buy about 40 percent less fertilizer than before, as prices have nearly doubled. Fuel costs and dry weather conditions have also forced many growers to reduce irrigation.
“Instead of irrigating to make our sugarcanes grow better, we are just irrigating it to make it survive while waiting for the rain,” he added.
Azcona added that fertilizer application among farmers has already dropped by around 30 to 40 percent.
“Prior to this crisis, we might already have been fertilizing at the lower limit because everybody was trying to save,” he said, warning that the reduction in inputs could further affect production next season.
Azcona said they are eyeing not pushing through with non-essential items or projects, which may instead be converted into additional input assistance.
Despite concerns over lower production, Azcona said the SRA hopes to at least maintain the current crop year’s output, provided there are no major calamities or widespread outbreaks of red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI).
“We are hoping we get rain. We’ve seen low-pressure areas and storms coming in. That will help us a lot,” he said.*
