In response to grievances from sugarcane farmers about unexpectedly low sugar yields, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) in Bacolod City has established inspection teams to scrutinize the sugar sample results provided by mills. Since the milling season started in October, farmers have reported yields as low as zero Lkg of sugar per ton of cane (Lkg/TC). SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona issued a directive on November 4 to form these teams, which will operate across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Their mission is to perform random checks and analyze the sucrose content, Brix, and apparent purity of the samples. Brix, a measure of sugar concentration in a solution, is crucial as it directly correlates with the sweetness of the liquid; one degree Brix equals one gram of sucrose per 100 grams of solution. The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED), led by President Manuel Lamata, has called on the SRA to ramp up these inspections to safeguard farmers from potential exploitation. Lamata has raised concerns about the credibility of the mills following reports of zero Lkg/TC from truckloads of cane, suggesting possible irregularities. Historically, the average yield was 1.7 Lkg/TC on 50 tons per hectare, but it has now dropped to 1.44 Lkg/TC. Lamata hopes that the mills are not exploiting the farmers and has appealed to the Department of Agriculture and the SRA to protect the planters. He also mentioned that previously, sugar planters were allowed to have their chemists at the mills to verify extraction results, a practice that has since been stopped. Despite acknowledging the impact of a prolonged drought on sugar yields, Lamata finds the current results questionable and urges the SRA to ensure that mill equipment is properly calibrated to prevent any unfair treatment of sugar farmers.
