• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Amid the challenges faced by the sugar industry, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) reported that they are about to breach the two-million metric tons of sugar output, citing reports from the field.
The two-million metric tons mark is far exceeding the initial projection of 1.782 million metric tons, and the pre-final estimate of 1.840 million metric tons, a statement from the SRA said on Monday, June 16.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona described the development as “very surprising”, saying that a combination of intensive research and hard work turned this crop year into a positive year.
“We were very prudent in our projection because we just came out of a very long drought due to the El Niño and yet, our canes recovered nicely, not to mention the stable sugar prices we’ve had through most of this season,” he added.
The SRA marked its 39th founding anniversary at its office in Quezon City on Monday.
Azcona also attributed part of the success to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s idea and approval of moving the start of harvest from August to October 1.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel has continually supported and pushed SRA to be the top research agency for sugarcane and the results are showing, he added.
“Our production improvement also comes from a very responsive SRA,” Azcona said.
He added that a huge part of the positive output this year was due to the massive production and distribution of high-yielding varieties.
“Personally, I was not a believer of SRA varieties in the past, but without a doubt, we have produced very high quality cane varieties that increased our production output. We have improved, we have shown that we can do it and we can still do more,” Azcona said. | GB
