By Sheria Brathwaite
The Barbados Sugar Industry Limited (BSIL), the original grouping of private sugar growers before the government’s divestment of its stake in the industry, declared Monday it is ready to play its role in the sugar cane harvest, now more than likely to start in March.
It’s now left to the cooperative that took over the industry from the former state-owned firm to start grinding cane in the sole mill it runs.
BSIL farmers reported to Barbados TODAY that their preparations were going smoothly and they awaited a start date from the new management of the sugar industry, now in the hands of a cooperative.
“They are going very good and we will be ready when the start is called,” said the BSIL Chairman Mark Sealy, who is also in charge of H&G Farms Ltd, which comprises Andrews, Fisher Pond, Blackmans and Easy Hall plantations.
Mark Sealy
“We have more acres to reap this year and based on the estimates that we have put in we should do better, but I am a little cautious with that because we had six weeks of hot and dry weather in the rainy season during the months of September and October.”
Last year, the BSIL farmers produced 79 000 tonnes of cane and they estimate they would produce about 85 000 this year, an increase of about seven per cent.
At Edgecumbe Plantation, St Philip, manager Richard Mayers said his team was also ready to harvest canes as soon as the bell was rung.
“Preparations are going well, my cane harvester is ready and my field equipment,” he told Barbados TODAY. “I am just waiting on ABC [Agricultural Business Company Ltd.] to give me two tipping trailers when the factory manager Marlon Munroe says he is ready to start the 2024 crop.
“I did a lot of work to my harvester last year after the crop, such as changing the bearing, welding, checking the axles on both sides and servicing the AC unit. So I think we are ready and she will work just as good as she did last year.
Plantation Manager
Richard Mayers.
“Last year’s crop I put in 10 319 tonnes and I think I could better that even though I have less acreage in plant cane (non-ratoon cane). Last year we had good rainfall and I believe that this year my plant cane is better than last year’s.”
Mayers, whose operations have been seen as an industry benchmark, said he was able to achieve significant yields of cane due to the support from Edgecumbe’s owners, the Skeete family. He said that if the industry is to return to levels close to that of the early 1990s, farm managers would need proper financial support. He said they would also need access to clean planting material such as hot water-treated canes, which minimises the potential of ratoon stunting diseases from developing in the stalks.
Last month, when Co-op Energy took over the business of the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC), the government entity solely responsible for the Portvale mill and the sale of sugar, Chairman Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne said the harvest would get underway in February.
However, factory workers were still busy doing work on the plant’s boilers, Barbados TODAY has learned.
Lieutenant Colonel Browne could not be reached for comment.
Mayers said he was confident that Portvale factory manager Marlon Munroe would get the equipment ready in time for an early March start.
“I believe they are looking at starting early next month,” said Mayers. “I was not given a date but I know they are retubing one of their boilers. I was told tubes came in December and that doesn’t give you a lot of time to play with. But I have confidence that once Munroe gets the factory up and running it will perform. But what he will need is a constant tonnage per day of cane to keep the factory running, about 2 400 tonnes of cane to keep grinding so he won’t have to shut down and restart all the time. Being in the industry for so long I know, I have also lived next to Andrew’s factory for ten years. Having to shut down and start again puts a lot of strain on the equipment and on the boiler tubes.”
The owner of Ashbury Farms, St George, Michael Gill, said he “was getting ready” and his harvester should be all set by the end of the week.
He said he estimated he would produce 500 more tonnes than he did last year. In 2023 he cut 1 500 tonnes of cane. He added that he would also be cutting 2 000 tonnes at Redland Estates, which comprises Castle Grant and Industry plantations.
On January 15, Co-op Energy officially started its operations as the new management of the sugar industry. The Agricultural Business Company Ltd. (ABC), based at Bulkeley, St George, oversees more than 4 000 acres of arable land while the Barbados Energy and Sugar Company Inc. (BESCO) manages the island’s last remaining factory, Portvale.
Last year, Barbados harvested 109 493 tonnes of cane which produced 7 048 tonnes of molasses and 6 848 tonnes of sugar.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
