• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
As millgate sugar prices indicated an upward trend, Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board Member David Sanson called on sugar farmers, particularly the federations to unite and work for a long- term solution that will address production, pricing, marketing, and other challenges facing the sugar industry.
“We are grateful that prices of sugar and molasses have gone up in the past couple of weeks with the northern mills showing significant increases and we hope that the southern mills will soon follow the trend,” Sanson, who represents the planters in the board, said in a statement.
Last week’s bidding price has gone up to P2,300 to P2,400 per 50-kilo Lkg, with molasses breaching P9,000 per ton, after more than three months of being in the P2,100-P2,200 level.
Sanson attributed it to the export program approved by the Sugar Board.
While this was planned as early as November last year, he noted that some federations and other stakeholders did not agree with the program.
Instead, Sanson said these groups insisted on their own version to have SRA and the Department of Agriculture declare that there will be no importation until December 2026, believing that prices will adjust.
“We have proven that their version was a total failure, thus we decided to move with our own program that they disagreed with and now, farmers are reaping the benefits of better sugar prices and molasses,” he added.
Sanson said the sugar industry cannot afford a repeat of what has happened in the past three months when prices were not even at break-even point for some farmers, particularly the small ones.
“We cannot, must not, sacrifice our planter-members’ welfare just because some have their own agenda. We must unite, work on a long-term plan to maintain equitable prices, be more open-minded and set aside our differences for the good of the sugar industry,” he added.
Sanson also called on the various mill districts to work with SRA in addressing the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation.
“We have mills that are actively helping in the production of fungicides that have been effective in eradicating the pests and distribute these to their farmers, but we need the support of all mills and even local government units in sugar-producing areas,” he added.
Sanson, who oversees the research and development arm of SRA, further said they have the technology and manpower to deploy to mill districts to train their people and farmers.
“We also have been distributing fertilizers to several mill districts already and more to come to help mitigate the effects of RSSI,” he added. | GB
