The red-striped soft scale insect infestation now confronting Negros Island is more than an agricultural pest crisis. It is a warning about the vulnerability of an economy that has become excessively dependent on one crop.
For generations, sugarcane has been the backbone of Negros agriculture, industry and employment. But the RSSI outbreak demonstrates that when a monocrop dominates the landscape, a biological shock can quickly become an economic and social crisis.
The appropriate response is not to abandon sugarcane, but to diversify the agricultural economy so that sugar is one important component of a broader and more resilient farming system.
The scale of the present crisis is already alarming. As of June 26, the Sugar Regulatory Administration reported 16,019 has of sugarcane affected by RSSI on Negros Island—14,447.83 has in Negros Occidental and 1,571.33 has. in Negros Oriental.
By early August, reports indicated that infestation in the Negros Island Region had expanded dramatically.
The Department of Agriculture has consequently intensified drone spraying, chemical control, financial assistance and efforts toward biological control. RSSI exposes a fundamental weakness of monoculture: when one commodity fails, the entire farm household’s income is threatened simultaneously.
Sugarcane farmers are exposed not only to pests but also to typhoons, drought, changing climate, fluctuating sugar prices, production costs and market uncertainties. Diversification, therefore, should be regarded not simply as an alternative agricultural strategy but as an essential form of farm insurance.
The Historical Legacy of Sugar
The dominance of sugarcane in Negros is rooted in history. During the hacienda era, large estates were organized around sugar production, with land, labor, mills, transport and marketing systems structured to serve the sugar economy.
Agrarian reform subsequently transformed land ownership by redistributing agricultural land to farmworkers and tenants. This was an important social achievement because land ownership and tenure security are fundamental to reducing rural inequality.
Nationally, CARP has distributed millions of hectares to nearly three million beneficiaries.
However, an unintended economic challenge emerged: the fragmentation of agricultural holdings.
CARP’s design generally limited land awards to three hectares for qualified beneficiaries, while landowners were generally subject to a 5-ha. retention limit.
The resulting smallholder structure improved ownership equity but often made it difficult for individual farmers to achieve economies of scale.
The World Bank has identified precisely this problem in Philippine agriculture: farms tend to become progressively smaller and more fragmented, making it difficult to achieve economies of scale and use productivity-enhancing machinery efficiently.
Thus, agrarian reform should not be judged merely by hectares distributed. Land redistribution must be accompanied by mechanisms that allow smallholders to cooperate, consolidate production and share machinery, irrigation, storage, processing and marketing facilities.
This is particularly relevant to Negros. Instead of recreating large landholdings, farmers can achieve economies of scale without surrendering ownership through cooperatives, block farming, clustering, contract growing and shared-service facilities.
The World Bank has specifically recommended clustering and consolidation of small and medium farms to lower production costs and improve access to technology and markets.
From Monoculture to Integrated Diversification
Negros Island should now pursue an agricultural transformation in which sugarcane remains important but no longer monopolizes the productive landscape. Portions of suitable farms can be devoted to vegetables, grains, root crops, fruit trees, coffee, cacao and other high-value crops.
Longer-term investments can include indigenous and commercial timber species, including suitable dipterocarps, agroforestry systems and other perennial trees.
Livestock and poultry should become integral components of diversified farms. Cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens can generate income at different times of the year while providing manure for crops.
Freshwater fish culture in ponds, irrigation reservoirs and integrated farm water systems can add another income stream. Such an integrated system transforms waste from one enterprise into an input for another.
The potential already exists. PSA data show that sugarcane dominates Negros Island’s crop production, but the region also produces banana, coconut, cassava, vegetables, pineapple, mango and other crops.
In the first quarter of 2025, sugarcane production reached 6.7 million metric tons, while Negros Occidental accounted for 79.4 percent of the region’s sugarcane output.
The challenge is to expand the economic importance of these other commodities.
Diversification also means more employment. Sugarcane is highly seasonal, while vegetables, livestock, poultry, aquaculture, fruit trees and agroforestry can provide different labor requirements throughout the year. Processing, packaging, cold storage, transport, feed production and marketing would create additional rural jobs.
Most importantly, diversification can promote a more egalitarian distribution of wealth. Instead of concentrating agricultural income around one commodity and its established production structures, thousands of small farmers can participate in multiple value chains.
A 3-ha. agrarian reform beneficiary, for example, could combine food crops, high-value vegetables, livestock, fruit trees and fish rather than depending entirely on sugarcane.
The government’s current agricultural direction recognizes this principle.
The Department of Agriculture is promoting diversification into vegetables and other high-value crops, while the World Bank’s current agricultural transformation program explicitly supports diversification into vegetables, fruits, livestock and aquaculture, together with mechanization and farmer organizations.
The RSSI crisis should, therefore, become a turning point for Negros Island. The objective should not be the disappearance of sugarcane, but the end of excessive dependence on sugarcane.
A diversified agricultural landscape—combining sugar, food crops, high-value crops, fruit trees, agroforestry, livestock, poultry and freshwater fisheries—would spread risk, raise productivity, generate year-round employment, increase household incomes and strengthen food security.
Negros has the land, climate, agricultural tradition and human resources to make this transformation possible.
What is required now is a deliberate long-term strategy that combines agrarian reform with cooperative economies of scale, modern technology, infrastructure, financing, processing and assured markets.
RSSI should, therefore, be remembered not merely as a pest outbreak, but as a wake-up call: the future of Negros agriculture cannot depend on a single crop. Its future must be diversified, integrated, productive, resilient—and more broadly owned by the people who cultivate its land. | NWI
