As we all know this season has been far from good, for most in the industry. It is very hard to find anything positive to say about the current situation, although perhaps a rare unity, in the face of such extreme adversity, between all of us who toil within the industry is something that should be nurtured, going forward.
Big planters, small planters, labour groups, the majority of planter associations and federations, some traders and most mills; we’ve all been hurt by the events of this season. It’s possible to accept that bad weather, poor yields, low LKGTC and Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation are part of the normal risks of being involved in an agricultural business. Increases in input costs, due to conflict in the Middle East, are nobody’s fault and there is little the Philippines can do about this. While these things have increased the pain we’re all feeling, the root cause of the distress in the industry is very low prices.
The majority of industry stakeholders, mentioned above, are in agreement that low prices are a result of very high levels of raw inventories. The reason for high inventories of raw is that demand for local refined white has dropped, the reason that demand for local refined has dropped is industrial users have been able to substitute buying local refined white with cheap foreign imported white sugar.
Despite sound advice from the substantial majority of stakeholders at the end of last year, to the effect that; further imports of white sugar were unnecessary and would inevitably lead to a drop in domestic prices, the SRA, in their infinite wisdom, decided to ignore this advice and authorize yet more imports. Prices, as predicted, have dropped back to their lows and there is no reason to see a recovery anytime soon, so long as the spectre of yet more importation of sugar overhangs the market.
The SRA’s mandate stipulates that they are meant to look out for the best interests of the industry as a whole and balance the interest of producers, industrial users and Filipino consumers. It is a fair question to ask the SRA, if they believe that they are succeeding in fulfilling their mandate. If the SRA believes that they are fulfilling their mandate, could they tell us who is benefiting from their policies? From our observations it appears the majority of the sector is experiencing severe financial distress, to the extent that it could be considered an existential threat to the sugar industry. It would seem difficult to characterize their importation policies as an unqualified success and it may even be fair, as many are saying, to suggest that they could be seen as an ignominious failure.
RSSI
It is against this gloomy background that we must be the bearer of further bad news. We are seeing increasing levels of RSSI, and other pests, occurring in many districts. However, the neem oil solution we have been distributing is proving effective in managing the problem. We would encourage everyone to be vigilant and inspect their fields frequently. If you Mill with Hawaiian, please contact us and we will give you the neem oil solution free of charge, if you do not mill with us but are farming in our district, contact us anyway and we will give you the solution free of charge.
With more than 500 hectares already treated across its mill district, HPCo., continues to provide free spraying assistance along with the distribution of organic and biological solutions. However, the company reiterates that active participation of planters — through consistent field monitoring and regular spraying — is essential to the success of the program.
In line with our program, the city government of Silay supported it by purchasing 100 sets of backpack sprayers and 300 pieces of 20 Liter carboy containers. To be distributed to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARB) associations in Camantero I, Aligasan Purita, Nacayao, Marigasa-Napilas, San Vicente, Tayap and Guimbala-on.
EL NIÑO
In light of PAGASA’s increased forecast probability, now 79%, of a severe El Niño event hitting us sometime between June and August and lasting until the end of this year, we have been researching various ways to protect the canes from the worst of the drought. The hard reality is; in the event of a prolonged drought, with both wells and rivers drying up, there is little to be done to avoid damage or failure of the crop.
IRRIGATION OPTIONS
We have also been looking at cost-effective irrigation methods, principally both Ram and Drum pumps. While these work in certain situations, they do not work in most areas and again; in the event of water sources drying up, they do not work. Ideally, this problem of recurring weather anomalies would require government commitment to a comprehensive irrigation and water storage plan for agricultural use. This would need to be comprehensive and cover the whole island, rice as well as cane. The probability of this happening anytime soon is, in all probability, very low.
Some planters have been experimenting with solar powered pumps. These are relatively cheap and running costs are nil, however the purchase cost is still high for small farmers and Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries. These are really only of interest given the current high price of diesel in areas that are already irrigated. Their reliability and effectiveness is yet to be proven, they will, in all probability, have no material impact on fields that rely upon being rain-fed.
ASPIRIN
During our research we have found some studies, from India and Western Australia, which indicate that spraying canes with trace amounts of Salicylic acid (basically Aspirin) has the potential to help Canes endure drought conditions better.
It works by stimulating the plants’ own ‘immune’ response. The plant upon detecting the trace amounts of salicylic acid, starts to activate it’s own stress response and produce salicylic acid. This results in an increase in both chlorophyll and photosynthesis production rate, transpiration rate is lowered and the stomata close up, which leads to moisture retention within the plant.
This is not a ‘‘magic bullet’’, if the drought is very prolonged it will not save the canes, however if there is enough water to occasionally irrigate or intermittent rains come at the right time, it would seem to suggest that this will increase the survivability of the canes in drought conditions. There is no information on impact upon yields or purity, however that is probably because field studies were carried out during drought conditions, so comparing yields in those circumstances to normal crop yields would be meaningless as by the nature of the study the plant is under extreme water stress.
Hawaiian-Philippine Company has purchased sufficient supply of salicylic acid to treat 20,000 hectares of canes. If you mill with us regularly we will make this solution available to any and all that want it, free of charge. As mentioned earlier it is to be applied in tiny trace amounts, this is not a case of more is better, if you apply it in higher than the recommended concentration you run the risk of inducing phytotoxic shock in your canes.
We have started applying it to our canes however it is far too early to have any meaningful results. We are assuming the best time to apply the solution is when the plant is still healthy and not stressed at the point just before prolonged water shortage seems likely. We are applying it to plants that are a couple of months old, we may reapply at 4 months. Apparently, it also increases the plants’ pest resistance.
If you choose to apply this to your canes, YOU DO SO ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK, there is no conclusive studies that have thoroughly proven that this works, however they do strongly indicate that it’s beneficial, in some trials the survivability rate for canes treated with salicylic acid was 40% in extreme drought conditions, untreated the survivability rate was 3%. SALICYLIC ACID IS NOT APPROVED FOR AGRICULTURAL FIELD USE IN THE PHILIPPINES, WE ACCEPT NO LIABILITY IF YOU CHOOSE TO EXPERIMENT WITH THIS ON YOUR CANES.
If you do choose to apply this to your canes, please keep a detailed record and let us know the results. It could be that this may be a very useful tool, going forward that we all may benefit from. It is entirely possible that it could be beneficial for many crops, rice, corn, tomatoes, etc. It is also very cheap, cost per hectare of the solution is about P25. The indication that you are looking for, to see if it is taking effect, is; canes treated with it should go a slightly darker green as the chlorophyll production in the plant increases.
To be very clear this is a gamble, it may help, empirical evidence would seem to suggest it does, however, it may harm, although there is no evidence that we could find to suggest it does. Worst case would seem that it could make no difference at all and you have wasted time spraying it on your fields. We will only really be able to tell the effect at the end of the year, if there is a drought and when we can compare the results of untreated fields against those that were treated.
Through its strengthened RSSI protocol and field-driven implementation, HPCo reaffirms its commitment to protecting sugarcane productivity in Negros while promoting sustainable and proactive pest management practices. | HPCo PR Team
