Globalization has transcended borders decade after decade with the Philippines a part of this interconnectedness.
The country has undergone several transformations and advancements driven by innovation and technological trade. These changes were also adopted by the sugar industry and has improved the sector’s productivity and sustainability.
Despite these, more innovations will be necessary to increase our competitiveness in the world market.
Let us discover some of the innovations crucial to achieving these developmental goals:
Modern Agricultural Technologies
From the once primitive hand and foot-operated lever used in the first sugar extraction, the Philippines has since opened its doors to new technology. Today, our agriculture sector employs automatic irrigation systems, GPS-guided machines and even drones for crop monitoring. These strategies help improve the industry’s overall efficiency with the emphasis on the following:
Increased yield;
Effective resource use;
Reduced waste;
Better decision-making with the help of soil health, moisture and crop condition data.
Capitalization on High-Yielding Varieties (HYV)
Besides physical technology in machinery, research can also uplift the current state of the country’s sugar industry. The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) heads in this direction through programs that produce rich varieties. Expectedly, this move should yield the following benefits:
Adaptive to the country’s changing climatic conditions;
Better sugar content;
Pest and disease resistance;
Boosted production;
Reduced use of fertilizers and chemicals.
Mechanized Sugar Harvesting
Harvesting sugarcane will always be labor-intensive, notwithstanding the shortage of workforce across sugar plantations in the country. On the other hand, mechanization of this process can be a concrete solution anchored to these goals:
Improved efficiency by eliminating manual cutting and hauling;
Reduced post-harvest losses;
Lower labor cost;
Better sugarcane conditions upon arrival at milling establishments;
Improved profitability for farmers.
Bagasse for Sustainable Energy Production
Another good thing about revolutionizing the country’s sugar industry is its benefit to other social causes. Just when some of us thought that sugarcane byproducts are no longer valuable after extraction comes bagasse, sugarcane residue, amenable for further processing to become a renewable energy source.
The better news is that several Philippine millers have already adopted cogeneration arrangements to make sugar production more sustainable. In this strategy, millers produce electricity from these byproducts to use in their regular operations, and any excess will be for sale to the national grid.
The Philippine sugar industry has gone a long way from the classic form of harvesting, extraction and production, thanks to the combined efforts of regulatory bodies and leaders for continually seeking advanced alternatives. Working with fresh sugarcanes has transformed from manual juicing to machine-powered and cultivation has become more convenient.
However, we should consider that there is still more we should work on. The global market continues to advance and so shall we. The key to our international competitiveness rests on the above innovations and the many more ahead.
