The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is eyeing a satellite office in Mindanao as sugar farmers in the southern part of the country formed an alliance recently.

In a statement to the media here on Wednesday, SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said the regulatory agency will improve its presence in Mindanao.

“We will look into establishing an SRA satellite office in Bukidnon to bring our services closer to the farmers,” he added.

Azcona met with the Mindanao Federation of Sugarcane Planters Inc. led by former Bukidnon Third District Rep. Manuel Antonio Zubiri on the sidelines of the Philippine Sugar Technologists Association Annual National Convention in Cebu City last week.

He noted that while Negros Island accounts for the bulk of the country’s sugar production, which comprises more than 60 percent of the total produce, there is minimal growth in the island, with only about 16,000 hectares of sugarcane lands remaining, which are in mountainous areas.

In 2023, land area planted to sugar increased by about 4,000 hectares in Mindanao, which Azcona credited for “increasing production output by about 20 percent while other areas remain stagnant or dropped.”

Zubiri said that Mindanao has almost 79,000 hectares planted with sugarcane, of which 59,000 hectares are in Bukidnon alone.

Currently, Mindanao sugar farmers contribute about 17 percent to the country’s total sugar production.

“But with our plan to expand, we will be contributing more since Mindanao is the only area left where sugar plantation can still expand,” Zubiri said in a statement.

He added that the Mindanao Federation of Sugarcane Planters Inc. comprises more than 50 percent of sugar producers in Mindanao, which could still increase once those from Lanao and Davao provinces also join them.

“We are the last frontier of the sugar industry, and we will expand sugar farms in Mindanao until we can bridge the gap in local sugar demand needed for our country to stop importing and be self-sustainable,” Zubiri said.

The Mindanao Federation of Sugarcane Planters Inc. is composed of six sugar associations, including the Sugarcane Growers’ Association Bukidnon, Sugarcane Farmers of Bukidnon Multi-Purpose Cooperative, United Sugar Farmers Cooperative, United Sugarcane Planters of Bukidnon Inc., Bukidnon Integrated Planters Association, and First Mindanao United Sugarcane Planters Association Inc. (PNA)