Bukidnon sugar mills to resume operations

Workers harvest sugarcane in the fields of Bukidnon province where 16 percent of the country’s sugar requirement are produced. Photo by Jessie Amigleo

MALAYBALAY CITY –– Bukidnon Governor Jose Maria Zubiri has allowed the province’s two sugar mills to resume operations on April 20.

As part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Zubiri first ordered the mills temporarily shut on March 28 up to April 5.

The shutdown was extended to April 12, and then to April 26. The last extension coincided with his imposition of stricter quarantine measures for two weeks starting April 13 after a patient was confirmed to have COVID-19 in Valencia City on April 9.

After Zubiri’s announcement on Thursday, Busco Sugar Milling Company in Quezon town notified sugarcane planters they would be open to buying their produce starting April 18.

Busco’s planter relations officer Eduard V. Carlos said the company hoped to mill at least 110,000 metric tons of cane per week to make up for the lost time.

Crystal Sugar Company, which is located in Maramag town, also notified planters it would open its doors on April 19 to buy sugarcane.

Busco and Crystal said they would resume milling operations at 12:01 a.m. of April 20.

Carlos reminded planters to observe measures, such as wearing masks and physical distancing when they transact within the company’s premises.

Both Busco and Crystal employ more than 500 workers and buy sugarcane from over 10,000 planters.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar previously appealed for the reopening of the mills citing artificial shortage and price hikes as possible effects of the suspension.

Sugar production of the two mills account for 82 percent of Mindanao’s total output, and 16 percent in the entire country, the agriculture department said.

In a letter to Zubiri, Dar cautioned that measures aiming to “protect the health and well-being of citizens … will not disrupt the food supply chain.”

Zubiri placed the province under general community quarantine on March 17, ordered closed non-essential establishments, and imposed strict home quarantine.

Jacqueline Lagamon, Bukidnon’s assistant provincial agriculturist, said more than 25 percent of the province’s 1.04-million hectare land area is planted to rice, corn, and high-value commercial crops.

Sugarcane alone is planted in more than 56,000 hectares, which yielded more than 4 million metric tons of cane last year.

LZB