P-Noy signs Sugarcane Industry Development Act

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has signed the Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015, a law that lays down the conditions for the maximization of the country’s sugarcane resources.

The certified copy of the signed law was transmitted to the Sugar Regulatory Administration on March 30 and was received the following day.

Rosemarie Gumera, manager of the policy and planning department of SRA, said the SRA would form a technical working group to refine the prepared draft for the Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) that would be submitted to consultations to be held nationwide.

The law is expected to take effect April 15.

The Sugarcane Industry Development Act also provides for increasing the competitiveness of the sugarcane industry, improving the incomes of farmers and farm workers through improved productivity; product diversification; job generation and increased efficiency of sugar mills.

Among its provisions on increasing productivity, is the institutionalization of the block farming program initiated by the SRA. As such, small farm lots, including farm lots held by agrarian reform beneficiaries would be consolidated into large production sites not smaller than 30 hectares. The ownership of the lands, however, would remain with the landowners.

This is intended to achieve economies of scale in the production of sugarcane and attain greater efficiency in production through the effective use of farm machineries and equipment as well as farmhands.

The SRA, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) would provide common service facilities, as well as start up funding and technical assistance for production.

The SRA would develop the guidelines for sugarcane block farms participating in the program.

The SRA would also recommend, after six years, the dismantling of sugarcane block farms that have failed to improve productivity and raise efficiency.

The sugarcane block farms would be certified by the SRA. The certifications would be used as the basis for the provision of grants, access to low interest financing and support from Official Development Assistance (ODA).

As such, sugar mills, bioethanol distilleries and other markets for sugarcane are enjoined to provide market access priority to SRA-certified block farms.

Sugarcane production areas that do not qualify for the block farming program would be entitled to a support program that includes socialized credit through the Land Bank of the Philippines, as well as technical assistance subject to various lending conditions.

Under the research and development component of the law, the SRA would intensify research and development activities on high-yielding sugarcane and flood-resistant varieties.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) would also conduct research on advanced sugar production, power generation technologies using biomass, and pest control.

To strengthen the extension services provided by the DA and the SRA to sugarcane farms, the law authorizes the Mill District Development Councils (MDCCs) to develop linkages with non-government organizations and local government organizations for the purpose of securing funding and aid in providing technical assistance.

The law provides for sustaining the availability of capable workers in the sugar industry by developing a Human Resources Development Master Plan for the industry with TESDA and related educational and labor agencies in the country.

Capacity building activities provided for by the law include the conduct of trainings and provision of scholarships among others.

The law, likewise, provides for infrastructure support such as farm-to-mill roads and irrigation infrastructure.

The domestic sugar industry is already one of the most organized agriculture subsectors in the country.

The industry, however, believes measures toward further development of the industry is needed to enable players to compete in the integrated Southeast Asian economy when the import duty on sugar is lowered to five percent this year.