The Philippine government will postpone its decision on sugar importation until mid-2025 to assess domestic supply levels after the current harvest season ends in May, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. announced on Sunday, Nov. 10.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) reached this decision after Laurel’s recent meeting with Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA) Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona.
Laurel said the Philippines currently has an ample supply of raw and refined sugar, which will meet the projected demand.
“Given the current situation, Administrator Azcona and I agreed that a decision on sugar importation could be delayed until after May, when the current harvest season ends,” he said in a statement.
Azcona echoed this position, explaining that “our supply for both raw and refined sugar is stable, and we are just beginning our harvest season, so Sec. Laurel and I agree to delay the decision on sugar imports until after harvest sometime in May.”
But Azcona noted that the harvest season has started more slowly than last year, with cane volume reaching only a third of what was harvested at the same point in the previous crop year.
He attributed this lag to lower sugar content in the cane due to El Niño conditions.
“Farmers had to delay their harvests to allow the cane to mature further and increase sugar content,” the SRA chief said.
According to the SRA, prolonged dry spells brought by El Niño have caused the cane to be physiologically immature, resulting in a 16 percent reduction in sugar content per ton.
SRA data showed that while sugar cane planting areas rose modestly to 389,461 hectares from 388,378 hectares in the previous year, production constraints persist.
The SRA projects this year’s sugar production to reach 1.782 million metric tons, marking a 7.2 percent decline, while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts a 3.6 percent drop in Philippine raw sugar output.
The USDA estimates production will decrease to 1.85 million metric tons, down from 1.92 million metric tons last year.
Stable rice supply
Filipinos will have stable access to rice in the coming Christmas season despite the subsequent typhoons that struck the country’s agricultural lands these past weeks, National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Administrator Engr. Eduardo Guillen said.
He made the assurance during a recent Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing wherein he gave updates on the status of the Philippines’ rice supply as the country heads toward the holiday season.
“Not really. Based on my meeting with Sec. Kiko [Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.], we’re okay,” he said in Filipino when asked if there are problems in the country’s rice supply.
“So, iyong supply ay tinitingnan naman po ng Department of Agriculture iyan para mapunan, iyong hindi tayo magkulang ng bigas (The Department of Agriculture is monitoring the supply to augment it and make sure we will not be lacking),” the official added.
Guillen also assured that the DA is well-versed in how much rice the country needs to import this coming season.
The DA had earlier said that Typhoons Kristine and Leon damaged nearly P7 billion in agricultural production, and affected 171,080 farmers and fisherfolk.
Meanwhile, the NIA administrator also said that the P29 rice being sold in “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” centers are continuously available for the eligible beneficiaries.
“In fact, ang totoo niyan eh, dito sa NIA na lang ano, pinapakiusapan namin iyong mga katabi naming communities na huwag nang pumila dahil kung sino naman ang pupunta diyan at iyong qualified naman po sila, bibigyan sila lahat (the truth is that the NIA is asking our nearby communities not to line up anymore because as long as they are qualified, they will be given access to the rice),” he explained.
Qualified beneficiaries, according to Guillen, are marginalized Filipinos—members of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), persons with disabilities (PWDs), single parents, and senior citizens.
The P29 Rice-for-All program was launched in selected Kadiwa centers last August to bring closer President Marcos’ vision to ensure the availability of affordable food, particularly rice, to every Filipino.
The Kadiwa centers, on the other hand, were established as one of the government’s interventions to address the current state of the agricultural sector in the Philippines, including the continued modernization of farming in the country.
As of September this year, there are 447 Kadiwa stores and on-wheel sites fully operating across various regions.
The National Food Authority (NFA) also procured a large volume of palay at 6,472,299 bags for the period of January to October 2024 with a performance rate of 72.65 percent based on the 8,908,860 bags target for this year.