Preparations are underway for this year’s sugar cane harvest to commence by mid-February, with some stakeholders predicting that the 2023 output will be sweeter than last year’s.
Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir told Barbados TODAY in an interview on Monday that every effort was being made to start this year’s harvest early.
And the island’s 12 private cane farmers are confident they will improve their yields this year and produce about 30 per cent more cane that they did last year.
Weir said based on reports from management at the island’s lone operating sugar factory, Portvale, the equipment needed to repair machinery at the Blower’s, St James facility was on hand and there should be no delays.
“We have gone ahead and ordered all of the replacement parts for the boilers, those tubes have been installed and the factory is good to go for mid-February. So trials will be done this month to ensure that the factory is ready and able to withstand the pressures of persistent grinding,” Weir said.
“So, I am satisfied that we have done the work, we have ordered the parts early and we got them. The thing that held us up last year was the late delivery of the parts because of logistical challenges that were taking place with shipping, so we got ahead of that by ordering the parts early.”
The Agriculture Minister added, however: “The challenge that we have been having is that the persistent rainfall has made it a bit of a wait-and-see. We have to wait and see how the rain would hold up so we can test the sugar content of the cane, the amount of sucrose content that is in the cane. But we are pushing to make sure we don’t have a late start like last year.”
Chairman of the Barbados Sugar Industry Limited Mark Sealy told Barbados TODAY the harvest should commence by February 15, adding that stakeholders were hoping for more sunshine to dry canefields and canes.
He said the private farmers had put in their first estimates and they believed they could produce 86 000 tonnes of canes, up from last year’s 66 000 tonnes and 67 000 tonnes in 2021.
“That is a 30 per cent increase and that is the first estimate. Many factors would assist in making that money. We got to start on time, we got to get a good drying out period, all the tipping bins have to be working well, everybody has to have bins and we have to have plenty of blue trailers hauling cane and getting it to the factory as swiftly as possible. All of those things play a part,” Sealy asserted.
Asked about the final output from the 2022 harvest, Minister Weir said he and other officials were still going through the numbers and a report would be presented to Cabinet. That report, he said, had to tie into the Government exiting the sugar cane industry and handing it over to the private sector.
During a press conference in March 2022, Weir projected that 100 000 tonnes of cane would be harvested – an increase of 7 871 tonnes over the 2021 figure of 92 129 tonnes. It was also estimated that 6 800 tonnes of direct consumption sugar and 6 900 tonnes of molasses would be produced, an increase of 5 251 tonnes of direct consumption sugar and 6 433 tonnes of molasses over the previous year.
Meanwhile, Minister Weir said discussions with the union regarding the transitioning of the sugar industry to private ownership were already in train.
“I had given instructions for the chairman and the CEO of BAMC [Barbados Agricultural Management Company] to meet with the unions, not just for the crop but with everything regarding BAMC, because the BAMC at the end of this financial year must start transitioning from a government entity to a private sector entity,” he said.
“That first phase must begin and I don’t expect to have that first phase started without buy-in from the unions. I am confident that a meeting was held with the Barbados Workers’ Union and a meeting was held with the Sugar Industries Staff Association as well.
“Before we start the crop, we have to settle everything that comes up every year but these are ongoing discussions. Union meetings aren’t only BAMC, they are also for the private farmers because how workers are impacted by BAMC farms, it would also be the same for private farms. So I know that this month they would follow up discussions for the start of the crop with the unions,” he added.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
