SRA eyes new facilities to deal with dry spell

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration said yesterday it is working closely with sugarcane plantations and sugar mills for the establishment of strategically-located irrigation and water catchment systems to blunt the effects of the prevailing dry spell.

“The SRA is preparing for any abrupt climactic changes and abnormal weather patterns which may have a significant effect to the sugarcane plantations in the country,” SRA administrator Ma. Regina Martin said.

She said Mill District Development Councils (MDDCs) and sugar mills are now identifying strategic locations for irrigation, catch basins and drainage systems.

 Martin said the MDDCs were also asked to identify locations where shallow tube wells and small water impounding systems could be installed.

Sugar production for the current crop year (September 2015 to August 2016) is expected to reach 2.3 million metric tons, same as the previous crop year.

Out of this expected production volume, domestic withdrawal is estimated to be more or less 2.25 million MT.

Because of the flattish production growth expectation this year, the SRA is allocating all of the sugar produced this year for domestic consumption to protect prices and supply.

The prevailing dry spell is expected to intensify in the last quarter of the year and is seen to last until the second quarter of 2016.

During the summer season, the dry spell stunted the growth of canes in the Visayas, particularly in Negros that produces more than half of the country’s sugar supply.

Coupled with strong industrial demand, this placed great strain on domestic supply.  This prompted the SRA to stop all sugar exports to the United States and the world market last June.

Despite the exportation shortfall, the Philippines still received an export allocation of 142, 160 metric tons raw value for the current crop year from the US owing to the country’s good track record as an exporter in the past years.