Negros Occidental Representative Emilio Yulo III urges national government intervention to address plummeting sugar farmgate prices. Yulo emphasizes the urgent need to support small farmers, who make up 80% of the industry, as prices dip below production costs. He proposes government purchase of sugar from producers to stabilize prices and alleviate their losses. Stakeholders warn of dire consequences for labor and the industry if the downward trend persists. Various sugar planters' groups appeal for intervention from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. amid concerns over the impact on farmers and workers.
Negros sugar planters seek gov t help as prices plummet inquirer.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inquirer.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Major producers back 150,000 MT refined sugar importation pna.gov.ph - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pna.gov.ph Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BACOLOD CITY - The country's largest sugar producers' federation has expressed support for the proposal of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to import 150,000 metric tons (MT) of purely refined sugar to stabilize supply and market prices. In a statement on Tuesday, the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED), through its president Manuel Lamata, said the volume should just be enough not to affect mill gate prices. Lamata, who heads the alliance of more than 30,000 member-planters, dismissed the joint statement issued last week by the Confederation of Sugar Producers, National Federation of Sugar Planters, Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, and the Philippine Sugar Millers Association that pushed for the importation of 300,000 MT instead. "Logic dictates that if the 300,000 MT of imported sugar they are proposing reaches our country by November or December, which is the peak of our milling season, for sure mill gate prices will collapse,&qu