Delbros unit unveils new sugar farming technology

MANILA, Philippines — One of the country’s pioneers in agriculture and logistics innovation is introducing a new system that aims to boost productivity of the sugarcane industry.

Delgado Brothers (Delbros) Group, through its sugarcane farm solutions member company Cane Express (CaneX), has started a new cutting-edge system aimed at modernizing and optimizing the sugarcane farming industry.

Because of inefficient traditional farm practices, labor costs, and lack of financing and infrastructure support, the local industry is facing higher production costs compared to neighboring ASEAN countries.

“The country’s sugar output for 2017 to 2018 declined due to a drastic drop of labor and unfavorable weather conditions,” CaneX managing partner Sebastian Ledesma said.

“With our modernized solutions, we aim not only to bridge the labor gap but also contribute to the sugarcane industry’s positive output by improving the current harvesting, loading and delivery model,” he added.

The company is investing P90 million to double its current fleet of 15 harvesters and seven loaders in the next two years.

It  sees an opportunity to expand its services from simply harvesting, loading, and hauling to full end-to-end farming, which includes planting, fertilization, cultivation, and farm management services by 2020.

At present, CaneX is used in farms in Negros, Bukidnon, Cavite and Batangas.

CaneX is the first in the country to deploy 48-feet triple axle intermodal trailers, which employ the company’s “drag and drop” model and can haul multiple loads in one day, efficiently shortening overall delivery time of sugarcane.

Through the Filipino-designed CaneX trucks, mechanized cane harvesters and loaders are expected to cut hauling, harvesting, and loading time, allowing farmers to focus on growing crops.

The new technology targets to lower production and labor costs as well as help local farmers properly assess competitive prices for their products.

CaneX trucks allow three to four trips with bigger loads for hauling while the current process is only limited to two trips a day.

Compared to traditional farming that takes 10 people three to four days to harvest one hectare of land, mechanized harvesters can cut 1.2 hectares per day.

Manual loading usually takes three to four hours to fill a 10-wheeler truck, while mechanized loaders cut the process to just 50 minutes.