Philippines : SRA to aid affected farmers after Kanlaon eruption
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will aid sugarcane farmers affected by Mt. Kanlaon’s eruption using PHP700,000 saved from canceled Christmas events and PHP2 million from its CSR fund. Relief items include water, rice, food, and hygiene kits. The SRA is monitoring damage, particularly in La Carlota, Central Negros, a key sugarcane area hit by ashfall, which could harm crops by burning leaves and accelerating sugar inversion. Farmers may use irrigation pumps to clean affected crops if water sources remain uncontaminated. Damage assessments are ongoing.
MANILA – Aid will be provided to sugarcane farmers affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon on Monday afternoon, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said Tuesday.
In an interview, SRA Administrator Luis Pablo Azcona said they would use the agency’s savings from Christmas parties, registered after heeding the directives of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. “to try and save on the Christmas celebrations and assist (in) calamity.”
“So far, SRA has saved a minimum of PHP700,000 already for the celebrations. So that’s just from the celebrations,” he said.
Azcona said they could use portions of the SRA’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund worth PHP2 million.
The SRA is set to distribute drinking water, rice, other small food items, and hygiene kits to affected farmers and their families.
Close monitoring
The SRA, meanwhile, assured close monitoring of the effects of the volcano’s eruption and its resulting ashfall on sugarcane farms, as well as recovery efforts and assistance to affected farmers.
Azcona said La Carlota in Central Negros, the biggest area for sugarcane, was hit by ashfall.
He said La Carlota is one of the “biggest single mills” in the province and has the biggest number of sugar farmer associations in the country.
He explained that the acidity of ash from a volcanic eruption is deemed harmful to sugarcane production if the ash stays on leaves.
He said the ash would burn the leaves and hasten the maturity of the sugar cane, which in turn, would result in the inversion of sugar into vinegar.
The SRA has yet to release its assessment of the estimated damage.
For now, Azcona said, farmers could still use the earlier distributed irrigation pumps to wash the affected sugarcane if their water supply is not contaminated.
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Source : PNA
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