There is need to restore the genuine market for lands covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program so they can become productive assets again, Rafael Coscolluela, president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, said yesterday.

Restoring the market for CARP lands means removing restrictions on their sale, mortgage or lease, he said.

Removing these restrictions will help agrarian reform beneficiaries sell, lease or mortgage their properties at higher rates, without having to go underground, that is unregulated and exploitative, Coscolluela explained.

This would also open the door to investors interested in planting high value crops in Negros, as an alternative to sugarcane, he said, with the Asean Free Trade Area agreement reducing the tariff on cheaper sugar imports to a nominal 5 percent by next year.

Coscolluela pointed out that multinationals are looking for new areas to plant high value crops, like pineapple, because the weather in Mindanao has become unpredictable, and southern Negros Occidental is among the potential areas.

Philippine agriculture, sadly, is now considered the laggard of Asia, running behind Vietnam, Myanmar, and other small Asian countries, he said.

Coscolluela said that while the Philippine government is bent on complying with the AFTA agreement on lifting tariffs on sugar and other agricultural products, many competitor countries continue to provide hidden subsidies and measures to protect their local products.

Philippine producers, on the other hand, are left to fend for themselves, he said.

The proposed Sugarcane Act pending in Congress, if passed, will provide some relief for the sugarcane industry, he added.

Assistance from government is needed to level the playing field, he stressed.*CPG

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