The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the Philippines may be capable of attaining sugar self-sufficiency in a few years if it could sustain this year’s production efficiency.
The sugarcane harvest for the current crop year which began in September 2024 was the first to exceed 2 million metric tons (MT) since the crop year 2020 to 2021, when it produced 2.14 million MT, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said in a statement on Wednesday.
Tiu Laurel said that as of June 8, production output already stood at 2.015 million MT, “with still a few weeks left of milling.” The output as of June 8 was already 4.7 percent higher than the previous crop year’s production. The current crop year ends in August 2025.
Tiu Laurel said the increase in raw sugar production in the country has shown the sector’s potential to hit production demand of 2.3 million MT, “given the right conditions and sustained support for the industry.”
Local sugar production was at 1.92 million MT in crop year 2023 to 2024; 1.79 million MT in crop year 2022 to 2023; and at 1.8 million MT in crop year 2021 to 2022.
The DA pointed out that the 2.015 million MT of local sugar produced as of June 8 was 300,000 tons higher than the initial projection of 1.7 million MT for crop year 2024 to 2025.
“We’re working closely with farmers, millers and other stakeholders to ensure that this upward trend continues,” Tiu Laurel said.
Among the factors cited by the SRA for the unexpected jump in the local sugar production was the policy to move the start of the harvest from August to October. Moving the harvest period has been deemed consistent and consonant with the country’s climatic conditions and cane matuity, as
well as with efforts to improve soil productivity.
The SRA added that better sugarcane varieties, improved coordination among producers, and stronger government support, including the timely release of fertilizers and farm mechanization programs, also helped.
Tiu Laurel announced that reforms in sugarcane farm management and expanded block farming efforts will be continued, after contributing to higher cane yields and better mill efficiency.
The DA head directed SRA administrator Pablo Luis Azcona to further improve cane varieties by finding better planting materials to boost yield and quickly contain the spread of red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) in order to sustain the increase in production.
Azcona added that with the projected raw sugar production, the domestic supply of the commodity will be sufficient to meet the demand, ensuring stable retail prices of sugar.
“Lower retail prices also help farmers as they are sugar consumers too,” Azcona said in a separate statement on Wednesday.
Based on the DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, prevailing retail prices as of Tuesday, June 17, ranged from P74 to P90 per kilogram for refined sugar, P68 to P90 per kg for washed sugar, and P65 to P90 per kg for brown sugar.
The SRA millsite monitoring also showed the composite price of raw sugar as of June 1, was at P2,712.55 per 50-kg bag, down by 0.09 percent from the week earlier at P2,715.06.
However, the SRA has not projected the country’s sugar production for the upcoming crop year 2025 to 2026, especially with the effects of the RSSI infestation on Negros Island.
Negros Island accounts for more than 60 percent of the country’s sugar produce. RSSI is a sugarcane pest that can reduce sugar content by almost 50 percent.
As of June 6, 2025, the SRA said that RSSI has affected the livelihood of 465 farmers in 841.7 hectares of sugarcane plantation in 21 cities and municipalities on Negros Island.
So far, the SRA has implemented protocols to quarantine sugarcane farms, transport produce, and disinfect farming tools and equipment, to contain the spread of the RSSI infestation.
