As sugar officials in Barbados look to decide on a date for a start to harvesting the country’s 2012 sugar crop, the industry has been hit by the fire bug.
Last week several acres of ripe canes at a Christ Church Plantation close to the Grantley Adams International Airport, were destroyed by fire, signalling some early losses to the industry. It is not the kind of start the industry can afford given the pressures the sector has been experiencing in recent times.
No date has yet been given for the start of the crop, although the Chairman of the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC), Dr. George Reid, hinted that the proposed start could be some time in early February. However, that still has to be finalised.
It is believed that a start in early February is aimed at ensuring that harvesting would be completed by the time of the rainy season. This year’s crop was badly affected by unseasonal rainfall, leading to a temporary halt to field operations. However, there was a resumption in the operations but when a halt was called to harvesting, output had declined for the second year running.
The BAMC official told The Barbados Advocate that his recollection is that sugar output anticipated from the forthcoming crop will be similar to that of the 2011 crop. “Independent farmers continue to cut back on their operations,” he said. The BAMC manages a number of estates which are indebted to Government.
The industry still has its challenges, Dr. Reid said.
Official figures show that around 25 000 tons of sugar were produced this year, an eight per cent contraction on the previous year’s productions.
Receipts from the sale of sugar to the Barbados’ contractual market in Europe were estimated at around million, according to figures from the Central Bank of Barbados.
This has largely been the result of a 36 per cent price cut which the European Union instituted on sugar imported from African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states, which include Barbados.
Government has signalled its desire to reform the local sugar industry by concentrating on a single-factory model.
At the moment, Government has in its possession a study on how to revive the industry in terms of increased production, the manufacture of additional products along with sugar, and the single-factory model.
(Source http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=business&NewsID=21731)
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