IN THE fields of Medellin, known as the “Sugar Bowl of Cebu,” farmer Roel Sanchez checks his crop. He has been planting sugarcane for over 20 years; however, the future now looks uncertain.
With the closure of Bogo-Medellin Milling Company (Bomedco) in Barangay Luy-a, Sanchez no longer has a nearby mill to send his harvest.
To keep farming, he was forced to ship cane across the Tañon Strait to Sagay City, Negros Occidental -- an arrangement that brings higher costs for labor, hauling, and sea transport.
“We may reach the point where sugarcane is no longer worth planting,” Sanchez admitted, pointing to rising costs but dwindling returns.
Many small farmers like him may be forced to abandon cane in the coming years unless help comes.
From cane to corn
Sanchez is among the many farmers in northern Cebu who are at a crossroads.
Bomedco's closure, long blamed on outdated equipment and low yields, left many growers without a viable mill.
The milling plant sits at the center of northern Cebu’s sugar-producing towns which include Medellin, Daanbantayan, San Remigio, Bogo City, and Tabogon.
Now, with government encouragement, these farmers consider a switch to yellow corn, which promises higher profits and a stable market.
The shift, however, brings risk. Unlike resilient cane stalks, corn is vulnerable to typhoons, raising questions about whether the change is sustainable or just a short-term gamble.
Decline of the sugar bowl
Northern Cebu’s sugar industry was built on the back of Bomedco, founded in 1928. At its peak in the early 2010s, the mill processed enough cane to produce 600,000 bags of 50-kilo raw sugar a year -- this fueled the local economy.
However, over the last decade, Bomedco's output dwindled. By 2021, production had plummeted to just 80,000 bags.
Alfonso “Al” Lim, president of the Bogo-Medellin Sugarcane Planters Association Inc., said the mill’s outdated machinery produced low yields, which forced many farmers to ship cane to Negros mills like Lopez Sugar Corp. and Sagay Central Inc. Those mills extracted nearly 50 percent more sugar per ton.
Shipping, according to Sanchez, cost at least P9,000 per 10-wheeler truck carrying 30 metric tons of cane. This excludes expenses on harvesting and hauling labor. Farmers had to ship at least 30 metric tons of cane to earn a profit.
In 2023, Bomedco suspended operations, citing a lack of cane delivery.
However, farmers argued the real issue was inefficiency. The closure left 2,800 hectares of Medellin’s 4,450 hectares of cane land idle.
An alternative mill in Danao City has been idle since 2014, despite new owners’ promises of reopening it.
Small farmers, who make up 40 percent of Medellin’s sugar industry, cannot afford the added costs of hauling to Negros.
Lim said another problem was the declining membership in local associations and conversion of agricultural lots to residential, said Lim.
From 2010 to 2015, Medellin’s cane production averaged 400,000 tons or 600,000 bags. By 2024, output dropped to 80,000 tons or 130,000 bags.
Sugar is a basic commodity. It is a main ingredient in the food industry.
The case for corn
To address the decline, the Cebu Provincial Government and the Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA 7) launched the “Sugbo Maisan” program in 2022, which promotes yellow corn as an alternative crop for small-scale sugarcane farmers.
Strong demand: Yellow corn is a key ingredient in animal feed. Cebu houses feed manufacturers like General Milling Inc., Universal Feed Mill, and San Miguel Foods Corp., ensuring a stable market.
Government support: The Capitol provided planters, dryers, and soft loans. It guaranteed a purchase price of P15 per kilo for wet corn, which is nearly double the market rate. A P5.9-million corn-drying facility is set to open in Medellin in September.
Higher yields: With hybrid seeds and modern techniques, DA officials project yields of up to 10 metric tons per hectare, compared to one to three tons currently.
By 2024, DA 7 reported the yellow corn area doubled to 2,107 hectares in 2022 which produced 6,449 metric tons. Still, this represents just 3.2 percent of Central Visayas’ 65,676 hectares of corn land. White corn, used for human consumption, dominates the rest.
The production is still far short of the 426,000 metric tons that Cebu’s feed industry consumes annually.
Some farmers have already embraced the crop. Imelda Perolina Noynay of Caputatan Sur said she shifted to yellow corn after her cane returns dwindled. She tilled cane for over 25 years before she switched.
“With two harvests a year, it can match sugarcane’s income,” Noynay said.
She also received training, seeds, and fertilizers from the municipality and the Sugbo Maisan program.
On good days, dry corn fetches P16.50 at the public market, but it can reach P21 per kilo when sold directly to feed manufacturers.
The Medellin Municipal Agriculture Office said about 20 small-scale farmers, tilling 10 hectares, have tried corn and other crops.
These areas are located in Caputatan Sur, Caputatan Norte, Dalingding Sur, Panugnawan, and Tindog. In all, at least 80 hectares are used for yellow corn production.
Risks and doubts
Despite the optimism, farmers, including Lim and Sanchez, remain cautious about switching to corn due to factors, including:
Typhoons: Northern Cebu lies in a typhoon-prone corridor. Cane can bend and recover; corn cannot. A single storm, like the Typhoon Odette in 2021, can wipe out a crop entirely.
Political uncertainty: Sugbo Maisan was a flagship of former governor Gwendolyn Garcia, who lost in May 2025. With new leadership, it’s unclear if support will continue.
Lack of local support for sugarcane: Lim argues the problem lies not in cane but in the lack of government investment. He said sugarcane could still be profitable if farms and equipment were modernized.
National context
Northern Cebu’s dilemma mirrored a larger debate about the country's agricultural policy. While the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) reported an increase in national sugar production, attributing the rise to new cane varieties and better irrigation, local farmers like Lim feel neglected.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona reported that as of July 27, 2025, raw sugar output reached 2.084 million metric tons, surpassing the two-million mark for the first time since 2020-2021.
In 2023-2024, the country yielded 1.922 million metric tons and 1.799 million metric tons in 2022-2023.
The Visayas accounts for 71 percent of production, with Negros alone producing 63 percent. Panay adds 6.3 percent with the rest coming from Cebu and Leyte plantations.
Lim, however, criticized the government’s reliance on imports, calling them “band-aid solutions.”
He noted that while farmgate prices for raw sugar stand at P2,650 per 50-kilo bag, retail prices hover at P3,000 or P60 per kilo, leaving farmers squeezed by rising input costs.
He argued that importing sugar during the harvest season undercuts local producers and benefits traders, rather than addressing the core issues of production.
On July 9, the government authorized the importation of 424,000 metric tons of refined sugar for buffer stock for 2024-2025.
Lim countered that the government should instead subsidize fuel, fertilizer, and inputs to boost productivity, as other countries do.
What’s next
For farmers like Sanchez, corn is an option if cane proves unviable. Lim, however, insisted that modernization could revive Medellin’s sugar industry.
“We have to be mechanized as manual labor is no longer attractive to youth,” he said.
Noynay, meanwhile, believes sustained government backing will determine if yellow corn becomes a true success story.
The future of northern Cebu agriculture remains uncertain.
Whether through corn, cane, or both, much depends on whether leaders at the local and national levels can deliver the long-term support farmers need. (EHP)