Steps eyed to address sugar issues

MANILA -- The Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, Inc. (Confed) has recommended several proposals, an offshoot of a consultative workshop set in February 2020, to address the challenges faced by the sugar industry including on

import liberalization. The proposals, in a form of a resolution, recommend programs to improve productivity, revisit the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA), and seek the full restoration of its PHP2-billion budget and enhance the institutional and political structure of the industry. Under increasing productivity, Confed is pushing for the expansion and providing support for the “block farm” program; mechanization through funds from SIDA and the Department of Agriculture (DA) or access to affordable loans from government financial institutions; mill upgrading and standardization as well as value-adding for mills through biotechnology and product diversification; and mobilizing “progressive sugarcane farmers” as farm consolidators, service providers or as peer mentors. Block farming is a consolidation of small farms to take advantage of plantation scale production. It aims to improve productivity especially on sugarcane and coconut farms owned by agrarian reform beneficiaries. Confed spokesman Raymond Montinola, in a statement on Thursday, said there is also an “imperative need for additional support on research and development, not only in developing and propagating new varieties that can withstand weather and soil challenges but on technology that can make farms more efficient”.