Writing
On Philippine sugarcane farming, pest management, farm management software, and the 2026 RSSI outbreak. First-person. Sourced. By Lance M. Reyna.
Every sugarcane farmer in the Philippines delivers to one of 25 operating mills. This directory covers all of them: location, ownership, milling capacity, farmers served, and direct links to each mill's website. Grouped by region.
Read articleBurning gets called backward. Green harvesting gets called the future. Both frames miss the real question: why does burning persist on farms where the farmer knows the trade-offs? An honest look at the agronomics, the labour math, and what a realistic transition actually requires.
Read articleCutting two weeks early costs about 2 CCS points. On a 10-hectare farm delivering 700 tonnes to the mill, that is real money gone for no reason other than scheduling pressure. What CCS is, how sucrose builds, and the field signs that tell you the crop is ready.
Read articleOn August 8, Roberto A. Alaban Jr. published the first complete RSSI integrated pest management protocol for Philippine conditions. Five phases, specific thresholds, named chemicals by IRAC group. A phase-by-phase breakdown for Negros smallholders.
Read articleThe complete Roberto A. Alaban Jr. protocol for RSSI in Philippine sugarcane. Phase-by-phase: scouting thresholds, IRAC chemical rotations by year, detrashing method, and biological agents. Plant crop to second ratoon. Version 1.0, August 2026.
Read articleFarmers across Negros are asking which variety resists RSSI. No resistant variety exists yet. A review of what India, Egypt, and Philippine researchers have found — and what you can do now while the breeding pipeline catches up.
Read articleThe sector produced ₱1.77 trillion in 2025. Coconut earned $3.57 billion in exports. A full breakdown of the eight biggest Philippine agricultural industries by production value and export revenue, with sourced PSA and DA figures for each.
Read articleAgriculture in the Philippines is a multi-billion peso industry still mostly run on paper. That gap is a career opportunity. Here is what the jobs actually look like, what they pay, and why the timing is better right now than it has been in decades.
Read articleSmart farming tools exist. Most of them don't reach Filipino smallholders. The real barriers are connectivity, cost, language, trust, and tools built for the wrong farmer entirely. Here they are, named plainly, along with what it takes to get past each one.
Read articleThe phrase gets attached to a lot of things that are not actually deployed. Research proposals. Pilot programs. Press releases. But some of it is real and running. Here is who is actually building it, what has reached farmers, and where the honest gaps still are.
Read articleBeyond the quedan and mill payment, sugarcane has five other income streams accessible to smallholders in Negros Oriental right now. From waste material that currently gets burned to processed products that sell at three times the raw mill price.
Read articleMost farm management apps are built assuming the user has internet. In Philippine sugarcane country, that assumption breaks constantly. Offline-first is not a feature — it is an architectural decision that everything else depends on.
Read articleThe sugarcane stunt disease that devastated Negros has confirmed cases in Bukidnon, Davao del Sur, Sarangani, and Sultan Kudarat. Over 1,300 hectares confirmed across three mill catchment areas, three months before the November milling season.
Read articleThe quedan is not a receipt. It is a warehouse claim and a negotiable instrument that represents sugar the mill holds on your behalf. The full three-stage paper trail from haul ticket to cash, what CCS means for your payment, and what to check before you sign anything.
Read articleIn Brazil, one variety ran in productive commercial cultivation for 23 consecutive ratoon years. In Negros, most farms replant after 2 to 4 ratoons because yield drops. The gap between those outcomes is not mostly genetics or climate. It is drainage, early nitrogen, and stub care.
Read articleThe biggest fertilizer mistake in Philippine sugarcane farming is not applying too little. It is applying the right amount at the wrong time. Research from Brazil, Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines translated into practical rates, timing, and rules for Negros Oriental smallholders.
Read articleTwo farmers can plant the same variety, apply the same fertilizer at the same rate, and harvest different yields. The most common explanation for that gap is not effort or luck. Clay loam, sandy loam, pH, and what research from four countries says about managing each in Negros Oriental.
Read articleMost farms in Negros plant VMC 84-538 because the cooperative recommends it. That is a reasonable default. Research from the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, and Brazil shows why matching the variety to your soil drainage and ratoon goals can lift yield without lifting input costs.
Read articleA running record of every feature shipped in the app, in the order it was built. Timestamped from version control. The paper trail behind the tool.
Read articleAn honest, sourced breakdown of every farm management tool that exists for sugarcane: Smartcane BMP, CanePro Estate, AgriWebb, Cropin, and Sugarcane Farm Manager side by side, including where SFM genuinely falls short.
Read articleEvery farm management app that existed before this one was built for someone else. Not for a 5-hectare farm in Negros Oriental. Not for a farmer managing payroll in a wet notebook. Here's why that gap existed for so long, and what it took to close it.
Read articleThe red-striped soft scale insect has hit over 92,000 hectares nationwide. Bais City declared a state of calamity. Here's a firsthand account from a farmer in the affected area — and how we built a tool to document what's happening, because farmers had no way to prove their losses.
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