THE Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said the eruption of Mount Kanlaon on Negros Island has raised concerns about sugarcane yields in the current crop year.
“If the farmers cannot push (the ash) away from their sugarcane, it will have a burning effect… that will lower yields,” SRA Administrator Pablo Luis S. Azcona said in a briefing on Tuesday.
Kanlaon erupted on Monday, emitting a column up to 3,000 meters high, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
The volcano is located in Negros Occidental near the Negros Oriental border. Negros Island produces most of the country’s sugarcane.
The regulator is already projecting a 7.2% drop in sugar production from the 1.92 million metric tons reported during the previous crop year, citing crop damage sustained earlier during the dry conditions brought about by El Niño.
He said that the ashfall from the eruption could raise acidity levels in the areas planted to cane.
“So that’s the scary part… our buffer stock will be affected in the end,” Mr. Azcona added.
According to a report by the SRA’s research and development arm, the immediate impact of volcanic ash is physical damage to the leaves, reducing their capacity for photosynthesis, as well as disruption to the chemical makeup of the soil, which can both lead to reduced yields.
The SRA added that the long-term effects on crops could include nutrient imbalances in the soil, compaction, erosion and chemical leaching.
Phivolcs had raised Alert Level three in the immediate vicinity of the volcano, signifying a magmatic eruption in progress and the possibility of further explosive eruptions.
“We will try our best to save the affected sugarcane because we need every ton of it for this year,” he said.
The SRA said that during the June eruption of Kanlaon, constant rains washed away the ashfall which had blanketed the sugarcane farms in the area.
“We were very concerned for the first two or three days (of the June eruption) because we found out the ash was acidic. However, there were non-stop rains. So after about a week or less than two weeks, it was gone and the pH levels of the soil normalized,” he said.
Kanlaon’s eruption on June 3 displaced more than 9,000 families in Bago, La Carlota, La Castellana, Moises Padilla and Pontevedra, Negros Occidental. — Adrian H. Halili