by PNA
The
Philippine sugar industry is now calling for more government support in efforts to cushion the impact of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) which will be fully implemented in 2015.
In a statement, the Sugar Masterplan Foundation (SMF) said stakeholders are well aware of the changing global market conditions for sugar products, especially with the advent of free trade agreements.
However, the group said as preparations are being implemented to cushion the impact of AFTA, the distortions in the domestic market situation might hamper and even derail these initiatives.
SRA is mandated to provide sugar for the domestic market, coupled with the goal of improving the income of the small farmers are, in itself, daunting tasks even with the participation of the private sector.
“The economic contributions of this sector are of primary concern. Preparing for the forthcoming AFTA adds to the burden,†SMF said.
“The country’s sugar industry has been on a ‘sariling sikap’ mode,†it added.
SMF said that infrastructure support such as farm to mill roads and technical assistance especially with regards to the changing weather patterns would be most welcome.
It added that support for the research and development of farm machineries such as cane harvesters and loaders would impact on the profitability of the farms.
“Difficult as it may seem, the industry is moving forward via a very strong partnership between the SRA and the private sector,†SMF said.
At present, the sugar industry contributes about P70 billion to the country’s gross domestic product and another P2 billion to the national treasury in value added taxes.
Sugarcane is a primary source of fuel ethanol, a potent replacement for the expensive oil imports. Also, the sugar factories are being eyed to contribute to the energy self sufficiency program through the use of biomass and waste from the milling process.
Based on records, there are some 60,000 farmers planting sugarcane in about 420,000 hectares all over the country.
Farms with areas of less than 10 hectares comprise 88 percent of the total; while those with areas of 5 hectares or below represent 79 percent of all farms. The very small farm sizes are the result of the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
But despite the small sizes of sugarcane areas, SMF said that efforts at developing the local industry are now on stream to help meet the challenges despite the meager resources.
“The small farms are being encouraged to form groups or blocks of 50 hectares each to consolidate operations and share support services,†SMF said.
The local district development councils (MDDC) are also being strengthened to serve as channels of information dissemination and vehicles for development initiatives whether local or national. Independently, farmers and factories are investing in their respective operations with strong optimism on the near future of the sugarcaneindustry.
Meanwhile, the 26 mills and refineries expressed support to these small farmers by providing safety nets to mitigate the expected entry of sugar from Thailand by 2015.
Thailand is expected to be the major source of sugar with the full implementation of AFTA.
“They will be coming in with a big advantage, thanks to the Thai government subsidies. Supplementary payments to Thai farmers practically assure profits at the farms,†SMF said.
Compared with the Philippines, the “friendly†financial assistance packages from Thai government-owned banks are almost on a “pay when able†basis, which allows the Southest Asian nation to reschedule and restructure loans of the industrial sector to suit the needs of the processors in times of difficulties.
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