The harsh realities behind the rising sugar cane

SINGAPORE and MALAYSIA: They are too young to have beer. But the young people who go to the Chomp Chomp Food Center at Serangoon Gardens can still drink to their heart's content at the hawker center.

The quenchers on their tables are sugar cane towers, however, and not beverage – drink stall owner Brendon Tan's solution for his thirsty customers.

"We used to sell smaller cups," he said. "(Gradually) we upsized from 700 milliliters to 1 liter, then 1.5 liters. People were looking for (a bigger) jug, so I thought we could try a (sugar cane) tower. "

In the past year though, he had to sell the drink. At tower now costs S18, up from S $ 15.

In fact, the cost of sugar cane in Singapore has risen by much more. Between last November and this July, the price per box rose from around S $ 16.50 to S $ 29 – a 75 per cent increase.

With food prices rising by more than 10 per cent over the past five years, the series For Food's Sake finds out what is behind the hikes in the prices of various foods and beverages.

In the case of sugar cane, it is a shortage like never before, said Mr Ray Sng, one of the co-founders of the Daily Fresh Sugarcane Supplier.

"Some of my customers in other hawker centers (told me) they're selling (sugar cane) three days in a week," he said.

On the other four days, they have no supply to sell. Or even when they have it, they sell it until lunchtime because they have one or two boxes only.

And the factors coming into play are not only short-term, but also long-term.

WHAT THE RAINS AND FLOODS DID

Singapore imports more than 99 per cent of its sugar cane from Malaysia, where the best areas for growing in the western states, such as Negeri Sembilan, Perlis, Kedah and Perak as well as Muar, Johor.

Lennard Yeong discovered when he traveled to Negeri Sembilan.

In the Jelebu district, Mohammed Farid, whose family has been growing since his father started in the 1970s.

But when it rains for the last days of December, the flood for his farm, leaving his crop vulnerable.

"(Too much rain) damages the sugar cane. Some rotted and turned sour, "he said. "I wanted to cry and scream out loud. It was very frustrating and disappointing. "

In February, his farm flooded again, along with other farms in the low-lying area – an unprecedented recurrence.

"The flood was almost three to four feet high. So we had to cut the sugar cane in half (to save some), "he said. "I'm using all of my employees from one area to the next."

On both occasions, it was able to save 30% of its sugar cane – a crop with a minimum growing period, ideally, of around nine months.

"The most difficult thing I've ever had to recover (my losses) from the flood," he added.

HEADING FOR CLOSURE

Even if the weather takes a turn for the better, Singaporeans might still want to pay more attention to the future.

Many of Malaysia's sugar cane farms are small family holdings, and that model of business can be a thing of the past.

Take, for example, Mr Mohd Arif Majid, who runs his two-hectare farm in Negeri Sembilan with the help of one person: His 50-year-old wife Simisah.

He takes pride in that fact, but also struggles to send freshly cut stems to his buyers. While sugar cane is best processed within 24 hours of harvest, it sometimes has to start earlier.

"If the request is for a lot of sugar cane to be available on Wednesday, we might have to start on Monday. If the amount is less, then perhaps, "he said.

Age is also catching up on the 55-year-old, who might not have much time left to run the farm. He has four sounds, but none of them plans to take over from him.

"In the sugar cane business, when you harvest," he said. "My oven sounds better to be employees and are working for the government. They feel more comfortable in office clothes. "

LARGER FARMS SCALING BACK

The time-consuming job of planting and cutting sugar cane means And that is also posing a challenge.

A shortage of workers is farmer Tan Wee Teck's greatest problem, as the work is too hot and too tough. "You have to go by row to look for the longest (stems)," he said by way of explanation.

The shortage extends to the labor-intensive task of processing the crop.

This includes removing the skin so the stems look cleaner, which is done manually because "not all sugar cane grows straight", not to mention that "you have to leave some (skin) on or else the sugar cane would dry out".

"It would be very difficult to use a machine," he said.

In 2006, he had around 30 workers – many of whom were Indonesians – in his 40-hectare farm in Muar. Now he has a workforce of 14, which has forced him to halve the size of his farm to 20 hectares.

"Even if I raise the salary, the younger folks are not interested in farming. I can not attract young locals. There would still be very few interviewees, "he added. "We are not able to produce more sugar cane."

Mr. Yeong also thought that some of them had started to be downsized because of the past few years.

MIDDLEMEN GIVING UP TOO

As it turns out, even some people are throwing in the towel.

For example, Mr Yap Siong Shee, who used to supply Singapore with sugar cane from farms in southern Malaysia.

"We have gone to the farther afield to buy (sugar cane), like Pahang and Perak," said the former supplier in Malaysia. "(Petrol costs and wages) has become more expensive.

"(For every) box, we were losing S $ 3 to S $ 4. So you can (calculate) that for 200 boxes … we were losing around $ 600 per day. So how much could I lose? So we could not sustain this. "

In Singapore, two suppliers also called it were absorbed by Daily Fresh, which delivers enough sugar daily to make 50,000 liters of juice.

There are six other companies delivering sugar cane to Singapore daily, and it was initially not easy for Daily Fresh, incorporated in the last year, to gain the trust of the licensing companies across the Causeway.

Mr Sng said his company had to pay in advance to secure its share of sugar cane. And now its efforts to keep supplying a plan to start its own farm, if the land can be acquired.

"It would not cover everything, but it would counter part of the problem," he said. "I do not think there will be a day in Singapore when we have no sugar cane juice at all.

Farms have closed down (but) there will be somebody who is going to come into the market.

However, with the help of the customer, the customer said, "It's a good thing that you can not do it."

"With an eye on the bottom line, whether the big players can keep the supply going, we're willing to pay," he said.

Watch the series For Food's Sake here. Cockles are becoming expensive and harder to find.