THE Department of Agriculture (DA) wants to amend the decade-old Sugarcane Industry Development Act (Sida) to bolster farm productivity and eventually stamp out importation.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. called on lawmakers to revise the existing sugar law to cater to other projects that would boost the country’s output of the sweetener, particularly zeroing in on irrigation.
‘We have to amend the Sida law [.] that would allow for more flexibility,’ Tiu Laurel said during a Senate hearing on the proposed budget of the DA on Wednesday.
‘What we clearly need in our sugar industry is irrigation. If we irrigate all our sugar lands, it will only cost P8.8 billion. Then there’s a chance we won’t need to import anymore because we’ll be producing [more].’
He also stressed the importance of liming because much of the soil planted for sugarcane is acidic, which could be detrimental to plant growth.
Liming is a process that increases the pH level in soil, thus reducing the acidity and enhancing soil health.
‘So, we have to put lime for maximum production. We also have to invest in research and development to get new planting materials,’ Tiu Laurel said.
The Sida earmarks an annual P2 billion budget for the sugar industry, half of which should bankroll infrastructure support programs, including farm-to-mill roads.
The remaining amount will be shared by four projects: 15 percent for grants to block farms; 15 percent for socialized credit; 15 percent for research and development, capability building, and technology transfer activities; and 5 percent for scholarship grants.
Budget documents, however, showed that the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has only received P1 billion since 2023, and even less than that since 2019.
For SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, the funding allocated to Sida should be augmented.
‘We suggest increasing the funding to maybe P5 billion,’ Azcona said during the Senate hearing.
He noted that half of the budget would still be allotted to farm-to-mill roads, while the remaining should cover modernization initiatives for the industry.
‘There are still quite a few roads that need to be built, and we would also like to include the modernization of sugar mills and farm mechanization.’
The House of Representatives recently allocated an additional P1.4 billion to the SRA, which puts the agency’s proposed budget at P2.4 billion for 2026.
This figure is a fraction of the realigned P255 billion funding by the House, which was originally allotted for flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Sida or Republic Act 10659 was signed into law in 2015 to promote the competitiveness of the sugarcane industry and maximize the utilization of sugarcane resources.