Aid will be provided to sugarcane farmers affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said.

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 P700,000 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 fund worth P2 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. (PNA)