The sugar milling season will be delayed to September 1 as part of the government’s effort to improve sugar production, the Sugar Regulatory Administration said Tuesday.

In a “Laging Handa” briefing, SRA Acting Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said sugar milling will start on September to give time for the sugar cane to mature and to improve its sugar content.

“For now one, one of the main changes is we will start milling on September 1. We will mill at the same time. This will give the farmers to a better choice of mill and also the most important is that their sugar cane will mature, and we will be able to get more sugar,” Azcona told the briefing.

Azcona said the SRA was mandated to increase sugar production to prevent the shortage of sugar supply and to stabilize sugar prices.

Other measures the agency is taking to improve production are the creation of block farms and providing high-yielding varieties of sugar cane to farmers.

The estimated demand for sugar is at 2.3 million metric tons while the production is at 1.780 million metric tons, he said.

According to Azcona, the country needs to produce up to 2.5 million metric tons of sugar so it can be self-sufficient.

“We need to produce about 2.4 to 2.5 million metric tons to be called self-sufficient. So our thrust is how to make farmers improve their production because our farm size is small, it’s only one to two hectares compared to other countries. So that’s why we need to consolidate the small farmers into cooperatives and give them all the assistance that they need,” he said.

He said the retail prices of sugar are expected to go down gradually.

“We can see that the retail prices of sugar are going down because the farmgate price since February lowered to P60. So as more of the imported sugar comes in, we will see the prices go down. From what I know, the wholesale price from importers are being sold at P70 or less,” Azcona said.

“Rest assured that the SRA, we are working hard to stabilize the supply so that the prices won’t spike like last year. For now, our supply situation is good and the farmgate prices at the farms have been stable in the last five months. So hopefully in the market, the prices will have a major decrease so that our countrymen can feel it,” he added.

Based on the Department of Agriculture’s price monitoring, refined sugar is sold at P85 to P112 while brown sugar is sold at P78 to P90. Jaspearl Tan/DMS