BACOLOD CITY—The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) plans to establish more sugar block-farms to help increase farmers’ income, as well as boost the country’s sugar-cane production.
This was disclosed by Agrarian Reform Undersecretary for Support Services Rosalina L. Bistyong as she turned over common service facilities worth around P82 million to agrarian-reform beneficiaries organizations in Negros Occidental.
Negros Occidental, said Bistyong, continues to be among the country’s top producers of sugar cane.
With the provision of more support services to sugar-cane farmers and the formation of more sugar block-farms in the province, she expects production to go up by 20 percent.
She said the DAR hopes to further boost the potential of the province to produce more sugar cane to push exports, particularly to Japan.
“Through sugar block-farming, we are hoping to apply the right technology in a concentrated area of 30 hectares. With the necessary assistance on credit and provision of equipment, we could easily increase yield from 60 tons to 120 tons per hectare,” she said.
The Philippines remains as Japan’s third-largest supplier of sugar, next to Thailand and Vietnam. The bulk of the country’s sugar exports are shipped to the United States.
The DAR, together with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), is establishing sugar block-farms and is targeting agrarian-reform communities in sugar cane-producing provinces like Negros Occidental. It is also looking at establishing at least 10 more sugar block-farms within Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.
By virtue of a memorandum of agreement between the DAR, DA and SRA, about 45 sugar block-farms have been established. The operators of these sugar block-farms receive support services such as access to credit facilities, farm tractors and equipment.
In Negros Occidental there are 17 of such sugar block-farms. “The average yield [in the farms in Negros Occidental] is 40 to 50 tons. Farmers in some areas are now harvesting more than 100 tons per hectare,” she said.