HDJ Bayawan Agri-Ventures has established a village-type sugar mill in Barangay Bugaw, Bayawan City, Negros Oriental that provides subsidized milling and hauling services to sugarcane farmers in the area. In left photo is LANDBANK Director Nancy Irlanda Tanjuatco with HDJ President Pryde Henry Teves and LANDBANK Dumaguete Branch Head Brendalyn Villavicencio during a visit to the LANDBANK-financed milling facility.

Some 1,680 sugarcane farmers in Bayawan, Negros Oriental now find it more profitable to engage in farming. Thanks to the subsidized hauling services and the constant market for their produce through LANDBANK client HDJ Bayawan Agri-Venture Corporation.

With HDJ’s presence right at the heart of the Lapay-Dawis-Mabinay Agrarian Reform Communities, the transportation cost is considerably reduced by at least 80%, as with the cutting-to-milling time of canes. 

Before, the farmers had to shell out P610 per ton of cane for hauling, and travel more than 60 kilometers to collect their hard-earned money. Hauling cost now averages as low as P50 per ton for areas within 5km; P100 for areas between 5km to 10km; and P150 for areas between 10km to 15km. 

Farmers get their products milled at HDJ with a 68:32 share agreement for the milled sugar and molasses – 68% for the farmer and 32% for HDJ. The corporation also buys the farmers’ share – providing a ready market for their produce.

“The only way for farming to remain feasible and attractive to the Filipino farmer is to make it profitable even to the small players,” said HDJ President Pryde Henry Teves, who thanked LANDBANK for believing in the project.
LANDBANK financed HDJ’s acquisition of sugar mill equipment and machineries, heavy equipment, and farm implements through a term loan in 2017. In August 2018, the company was granted additional financing for the construction of additional mill structures, equipment for a second mill, construction of a bioelectric switchyard, and installation of interconnection line.

HDJ now has twin mills equipped with a rated capacity of 600 tons of cane per day and power generation of three megawatts. The first mill is operational and undergoing fine-tuning. Currently powered by a generator, the mill will soon shift to producing its own power fuelled by bagasse and other feedstock. The power that will be generated in excess of the mill’s consumption will be sold to the grid.

SCP-SIDA
Meanwhile, individual sugarcane farmers from Negros Oriental and other sugar-producing regions stand to benefit from the Socialized Credit Program under the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SCP-SIDA) – a continuing direct lending program that LANDBANK implements with the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).

Since SCP-SIDA was launched in 2018, 41 farmers in Negros Oriental have already availed of the Program, with several other applications currently being processed by SRA for endorsement to LANDBANK. At least 90 more farmers have also expressed interest in the Program, following orientations conducted by LANDBANK and SRA in the barangays of Manduao, Villasol, and Mabinay - all within a 10 to 15 kilometer-radius from the mill. 

Funded by the Sugar Regulatory Administration by virtue of RA No. 10659, SCP-SIDA is specifically designed to help improve the productivity and increase the income of individual sugarcane farmers, block farms, and common service centers through direct access to credit. 

As of August 13, 2019, LANDBANK already approved loans amounting to P126 million, benefiting 814 borrowers.

“We will work doubly hard and we will continue to work closely with SRA and the DA (Department of Agriculture) to extend more loans under the Program. SCP-SIDA is just one of the programs by which we are pursuing a more focused and direct approach in lending to provide small farmers with direct access to credit,” said LANDBANK President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo.