The Sugar Regulatory Administration will ask the National Food Authority to allow sugar planters associations to buy NFA-priced rice for their farm workers, SRA chief Rafael Coscolluela said yesterday.

“We’re hoping we can get NFA rice for laborers and the associations can finance the carrying costs. We’re working this out for Negros Occidental,” he said at the Sugar Forum at the L’Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City attended by industry stakeholders.

The meeting, moderated by Sugar Board member Rafael Golez, was also attended by Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Golez.

The proposal of the SRA came on the heels of increasing prices of commercial rice brought about by tight supply. The NFA has been selling lower-priced imported rice for low-income families at its warehouses in Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, Coscolluela said sugar production for crop year 2007-2008 is expected to exceed the previous year’s output despite an anticipated unfavorable weather that could adversely affect sugarcane quality.

“We’re confident it will be higher than last year’s despite the weather,” he said.

Coscolluela said initial projection for the current crop year was 2.28 million metric tons but after monthly re-estimates, the figure became 2.2567 million MTs.

“But it can still go down a bit,” he said. But 2.25 million MTs is still higher than 2006-2007’s output of 2.23 million MTs.

Meanwhile, domestic stock balance is projected at 195,492 MTs at the end of the current crop year, on a scenario of 2.2567 million MTs total production and withdrawal of 1.95 million metric tons, still within the bounds of reasonable stock balance, said regulation department manager Johana Jadoc, who gave a presentation on production, supply and prices.

US quota allocation for 2007-2008 is 137,353 MTs while produced for World market is 79,750 MTs.

Last March 31, Coscolluela had announced that “D” or World market  allocation will be scrapped that week as requirements of food processors had already been met and to ensure adequate supply after the current milling season. 

NEW ESTIMATE SYSTEM

Coscolluela said that SRA will come up with a new crop estimate system that will be geographically-based.

He said in the old crop estimate system, figures were based on field and mill districts’ estimates, but the process was difficult and even led to duplications in some instances.

Under the new system, the SRA will draw a list of all sugarcane farms in the country to get an idea on how much a particular planter is expected to produce.

“We will consolidate all the reports and, hopefully, come up with more accurate (data),” Coscolluela said.*NLG

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