RP posts record harvest of 2.45-M tons sugar in H1

The Philippines produced a record of 2,454.523 metric tons (MT) of sugar in crop year 2007-2008.

“This was the highest in 25 years,” said the Philippine Sugar Research Institute Foundation, Inc. (Philsurin).

In a report, a copy of which was furnished The STAR, Philsurin said that the last time the country achieved a similar production was in crop year 1982-83 when it produced 2.463,789 MT of sugar.

“However, in terms of productivity, last year’s average of 68.40 tons cane per hectare was a historical high,” pointed out the institute, a private entity established in 1995 through the initiative of the National Council of Sugar Producers to promote the local sugar industry’s advancement.

Philsurin, a not-for-profit sugarcane research, development, extension (RDE) organization, reported that the leading province in sugar production is Negros, which produced 1,351,726 MT of sugar last year equivalent to 55 percent of total Philippine production.

High-yielding varieties (HYVs) and good weather were responsible for the record production.

In Negros, new varieties accounted for 93 percent of all sugarcane planted in crop year 2007-2008.

The leading varieties included VMC 86-550, VMC 84-524, VMC 87-599, Phil 80-13 and Phil 88-39, which accounted for 71 percent of varieties planted in the province.

Philsurin was responsible for the massive distribution of new HYVs in Negros and other sugarcane-growing provinces in the country.

Over the past decade, the institution has organized mill district development councils (MDDC) in all the country’s mill districts.

MDDCs are entities in sugar-producing areas created primarily to identify productivity concerns and problems of the district. Represented in an MDDC are sugar planters, millers, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and other organizations.

“Philsurin funds development and extension activities of the MDDCs. We have also constructed various infrastructure projects to enable the districts to serve their respective stakeholders,” explained Philsurin Director General Leon Arceo in an earlier report titled “Technology – Key to Sustainability and Profitability of Sugar Production: The Philippine Experience.”

Each MDDC has an office, a greenhouse to rear tissue-cultured plantlets, nurseries, hot water treatment facilities and a weather station.