Negros Occidental is the Philippines’ major sugar producer contributing almost half of the country’s total production, with nine operational sugar factories, seven of which have refineries.
Negros Occidental Agriculture
Agriculture has been the lifeblood of the economy of Negros Occidental which is still mainly an agricultural province, comprised of 540,386 hectares of agricultural land area. Hence, one it is one of the investment priority areas, to ensure food security and agricultural productivity.
Sugarcane
The gross tons cane milled in the 11 different mill districts reached 582,262 metric tons in crop year 2015-2016. The raw sugar production on the same crop year was pegged at 1,190,174 metric tons comprising 53.85% of the total Philippines sugar production. Negros Occidental has also 5 refineries producing 11,336,403.00 of 50kg bags which is 60.93% of the refined sugar production in the country. The by-products of sugar on the same crop year have the following production: molasses – 488,872.38 MT; filter cake – 451,765.21 MT; and bagasse – 3,567,687.69 MT. Supporting the sugar industry are the 21,795 sugarcane planters and 20,768 fanners who’s cultivating a totat 188,999.96 hectares of cane lands.
Aside from raw and refined sugar, Negros Occidental also produces good quality organic powdered sugar, called “muscovado” that is exported to Europe and the United States where it is preferred by the health-conscious consumers.