July 3, 2015
SunStar (Jeandie O. Galolo) | http://goo.gl/jMsBDY
Dwindling production. Aside from a drop in production of sugar, the industry is also losing its workers to the booming construction industry. National Federation of Sugar Planters vice president Jose Mari Miranda says it will take three to five years for the Northern Cebu plantations to recover from the effects of super typhoon Yolanda. (Sun.Star File)
SUGARCANE plantations in Northern Cebu still suffer from the effects of super typhoon Yolanda, almost two years since it wreaked havoc in the area.
In an interview with National Federation of Sugar Planters Inc. vice president Jose Mari M. Miranda Tuesday, the official reported that the Bogo-Medellin Milling Company Inc. in the town of Medellin, the only sugar mill in Cebu, suffered a 40 percent loss of the total production, which he said is equivalent to roughly P300 million. “It will take three to five years to recover,” said Miranda. In addition, the official said the antiquated, more than 80-year-old facility in Medellin is also affecting the production of the mill, performing at a less efficient rate.
Investments
“(The mill can be improved) by putting new machinery, but it is capital intensive, so we are doing it by phase,” the official said. He said the Bogo-Medellin Milling Company, which is currently producing 3,500 tons of sugar daily, purchased four new farm tractors two years ago, priced at P1.5 million to P2 million each. Miranda said these new investments do not necessarily mean an increase in the cost of sugar in the market. “No (it will not increase). The price of sugar is market-driven,” Miranda said. The sugar industry in Northern Cebu is also confronted by other issues like the decrease in the sugarcane plantations’ land area and displacement of some workers. Down from the previous 10,000 hectares of sugarcane plantations scattered in the towns of Medellin, Daanbantayan, Danao, Tabuelan, San Remegio, and Bogo City, this has been reduced to 6,500 hectares since some lands have been planted with other crops. “Manpower is still there but the construction industry is booming, so men (prefer) to work there,” Miranda pointed out. Bogo-Medellin Milling, together with Hideco in Ormoc, are the only sugar mills in Central and Eastern Visayas, contributing 2.8 percent to the country’s total sugar output at 2.2 million metric tons. The official also reported that the national government is setting aside P2 billion fund the industry under the Sugar Cane Industry Development Act. “This law provides an annual allocation of P2 billion, which will start next year yet,” Miranda said.
Economic contribution
Of the P2 billion, 50 percent will go to infrastructure, 15 percent for block farms, 15 percent for socialized credit, 15 percent for farm mechanization, and five percent for scholarships for children of sugar farm workers. The industry, according to Miranda, employs 700,000 workers directly and indirectly. In the crop years of 2013 and 2014, the industry contributed P87 billion to the national economy in terms of income from raw sugar and molasses, as well as in value-added and other taxes. Meanwhile, the area devoted to sugarcane farming is about 423,000 hectares. Negros Island covers more than half of this.