BACOLOD CITY – The dry spell that hit the country has inflicted severe damage to the sugar industry in Negros Occidental, the country's major producer of sugar.The Sugar Regulatory Administration has estimated the damage at P200,178,856 in Negros Occidental.The province supplies 60 to 65 percent of the domestic sugar consumption.
Sugar cane harvesting @ Bayawan City, Negros Oriental. Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona reported that the drought caused a total of P215,700,114 in damage to sugar and molasses in the entire Western Visayas.Damage in Capiz was reported at P13,747,242 and Iloilo at P1,774,015 on April 15, but the SRA said the figures are expected to increase as the end of the El Niño phenomenon is nowhere near.The SRA also reported that 3,283 sugar farmers in the region have been affected by the drought, including 2,392 from Negros Occidental.