Farmers experience increased production under Sugacane Block Farms

Sometime in the year 2013, the Department ofAgrarian Reform (DAR) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) through the SugarRegulatory Authority (SRA) started the Sugarcane Block Farms project, with nineteen (19) pilot sites most of which are in Negros Occidental. As a consequence thereof, it was shown that the pilot sites posted an average increase of 29 percent in farm productivity for the crop year 2013-2014 after a year of operation. It was also established that the block farms had an average increase from 50.78 tons cane per hectare (TC/Ha) to 65.29 TC/Ha during the period. All the pilot block farms showed increases in productivity ranging from 7.47 percent to 100 percent after receiving capacity-building, technical assistance, farm planning, and farm management support from SRA.

The Sugarcane Block Farm in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, specially, the Hacienda Bernardita Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative experienced a 7.47 percent increase in production, from its traditional production of 77 TC/Ha to 82.75 TC/Ha. A similar experience was also posted by the North Cluster Producers Cooperative in Paniqui, Tarlac which involved a 100 percent increase in productivity from 50 TC/Ha to 100 TC/Ha. Consequently, the average 29 percent increase in productivity resulted to an average increase of the agrarian reform beneficiaries’ (ARBs) income by P39,815 per hectare, at 1.96 Lkg per TC.

The SBF project includes trainings on Sugarcane high-yeild varieties production and management. 

In Cagayan province, Sugarcane Block Farms started in 2016-2017 through the Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCCESS) project covering the Bugnay Farmers Marketing Cooperative in Tuao, Cagayan and the Mabuhay Agri-Crops MPC in Piat, Cagayan. The 2017-2018 FBS project included the Bantay Farmers Producers Cooperative in Solana, Cagayan and Pinoy Bagong Pagasa Marketing Cooperative in Tuao, Cagayan. For the 2018-2019 SBF projects, the ARBOs to be enrolled are Roma Sur MPC in Enrile, Cagayan and Villarey ARB Cooperative in Piat, Cagayan.

Cagayan SBF ARBOs enrolled under the SBF project are provided farm machines to ensure the sustainability of the project. 

The DAR-DA/SRA Sugarcane Block Farms (SBF) project involves the consolidation of the management of small farms of less than five hectares, into a bigger but contiguous unit of at least 30 hectares for purposes of improving farm productivity while individual ownership by the ARB is maintained.

Information gathered from SRA shows that about 85 percent of sugarcane farms in the country have areas below five hectares due the widespread coverage of agri lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), subdivision of lands by inheritance, sale, etc.

Sugarcane is a plantation crop and its cost-efficiency ratio is achieved with large farm sizes such as 30 hectares and above, small sugarcane farmers cannot avail of the benefits of economies of scale, such as reduced prices of inputs for bulk purchases, etc. The present ARB-land owners also do not have the capability to provide the needed farm inputs resulting to lower production, it is also aggravated by the lower price offered by millers except for large volume transactions. 

The Sugarcane Block Farms project aims to consolidated small sugarcane farms into larger agribusiness ventures, improved farm management and mechanized farming by the ARB’s through provision of essential technical, financial, production and marketing support services under the project. At the end of their enrollment under the SBF project, these ARBOs shall be able to operate the sugarcane block farms as a business and become a major industry player through economies of scale.

Three Cagayan Valley towns into Sugarcane Block Farming

Planning workshop of DAR and ARB
coops for block sugar faming

The Sugarcane Block Farming project is currently being implemented by the Department of Agrarian Reform provincial office of Cagayan wherein small farms owned by agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in sugar-producing areas are being consolidated to increase the ARBs’ profitability through ‘block’ farming. Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (PARPO II) Virgilio M. Acasili said the implementation of the project is pursuant to the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed between and among the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). Under the MOA, the DAR will shoulder the cost of farm tractors and business development services. The DA will cover the development of irrigation facilities and the improvement of farm-to-mill roads while the SRA will shoulder the cost of agri-technology and overall management of the block farms.

At least two (2) municipalities in Cagayan province are preparing to engage in sugarcane block farming to increase profitability and  also a way of preparing our ARB-sugar farmers against the effects of competition resulting from the implementation of the free trade agreement within the ASEAN region by 2015,  when the tariffs on agricultural goods can be as low as five percent to even zero.

The demand for sugar is continuously rising due to the increasing requirements for production of bioethanol (from sugar) and in power cogeneration which uses sugarcane waste called bagasse. Presently, energy companies are allowed to import bioethanol to supply their needs as local production cannot meet the current demand. Bioethanol made from sugarcane consumes the least amount of energy and emits the least amount of greenhouse gas, which means it is one of the most earth-friendly power sources.

The local sugar industry’s biggest competition is the entry of cheaper sugar from Thailand and is considered as a real threat that can affect local production and pull down domestic prices to the prejudice of local farmers. Sugar from the Philippines is still being exported with the United States as its major market. According to the SRA, sugar exports will soon include India, Korea, Indonesia and the Middle East.

Sugarcane block farming will happen in the municipalities of Solana and Tuao, all in the south-western part of Cagayan province where large tracks of lands are planted to sugarcane that provide the raw materials for the Cagayan RobinaSugar Milling Company (CARSUMCO) in Sto. Domingo, Piat, Cagayan. Also included in the project is Cabagan town in Isabela province. 

Under the block farming system, small farms of agrarian reform beneficiaries with areas of less than 10 hectares will be consolidated and integrated into 30-50 hectares through various schemes such as contracting, joint venture, partnership and sharing.

The block farms will be managed as one farm so that activities in the small individual farms are synchronized to the plans of the whole block, Hence, resources including farm workers, equipment and financing, could be utilized more efficiently. Although the farms are operated as a block, the ARB remains as the absolute owner of their farm, they will not lose ownership of their land titles. The block farms will be managed by their farmers’ organizations or cooperatives who will be assisted by a farm manager hired and supervised by the SRA.

Block farming is the consolidation of small farms to help increase productivity and to widen the scale of sugar production. ARBs are encouraged to organize themselves into cooperatives to make their farm operations more cost-efficient which will result to lesser cost of production resulting to more profitable per unit area. It is a support services program intended for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) beneficiaries.

The government is targeting to have at least 100 sugarcane block farm sites by 2015. The average sugar cane yield per hectare is currently at 60 tons but this can be increased to 70-80 tons per hectare through farm mechanization and improved production process.

Under the block farming system, DAR provides all that the farmers will need such as farm inputs, new farm techniques and common service facilities that consists of a mechanized tractors and a hauling trucks, etc.  These inputs and farm equipment will  be provided as grants to the farmers’ cooperatives being the conduit between DAR, etc and the farmer-beneficiaries who are parties to the project.

           According to studies conducted by SRA, the program can help increase their sugar cane production from 99 to 147 bags of sugar per hectare, which could be translated to a possible increase in income of about P39, 000 for the farmer-beneficiaries. /cds