Based on current projections, the output from this year’s sugar harvest should significantly surpass last year’s.
General manager of the Barbados Agricultural Management Company Ltd. (BAMC), Leslie Parris, was optimistic about the 2018 harvest and told the Saturday Sun that there should be a ten to 15 per cent increase in canes and sugar because farmers were implementing good crop husbandry techniques.
More than 131 000 tonnes of cane were delivered to Portvale Sugar Factory last year and produced 10 134 tonnes of sugar.
“In anticipation of this year’s crop, they [farmers] started in 2016 based on the incentive scheme available to them. They planted more acreage in cane and are therefore expected to increase their production between ten and 15 per cent. That also holds true for the BAMC,” said Parris.
He said that, weather permitting, the 2018 sugar cane harvest should start around the first week of March, with the product being sourced from 31 private planters and ten BAMC farms in control of 8 100 acres in the east and north of the island.
Parris said the incentives – such as technical support to make sure proper varieties of cane were planted and special field maintenance programmes – fell under the management of the Barbados Cane Industry Corporation, which is also responsible for payments to private planters.
Parris said rain could affect the start of the crop and sugar yields but he was optimistic the country could reach the estimated target.
He explained that the recent heavy rainfall could affect how mechanical harvesters cut cane, saying that the machines may have challenges in muddy areas.
“The heavy rainfall toward the end of the year, to some extent, has been a positive. However, we need the ground to dry out now so we can get going.
“We would have liked to traditionally start in January/February but this year has not permitted that, because of the weather and other factors.” (SB)
