WITH OUTPUT already low, Barbados’ ability to continue in sugar production will be undermined if large plantations abandon their canes because of serious problems.
CEO of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul issued this warning yesterday. He was commenting on reports that owners of Portland and The Rock plantations in St Peter, which have more than 230 acres under sugar cane cultivation, had decided to leave the canes in the field because reaping them was too expensive.
Paul said such a move also held negative implications for Barbados’ plans to establish a multipurpose sugar factory because of further limits on cane supplies.
The state-of-the-art sugar factory is to replace Andrews in St Joseph. It will produce a range of sugars as well as about 25 megawatts of electricity to be tied into the national grid, along with alcohol that could be used as an additive in the automotive sector.
However, its establishment has been proposed against the backdrop of waning sugar production in Barbados. This year’s forecast is for 18 000 tons, compared to last year’s production of about 20 000 tons.
Paul expressed some regret over the way owners of Portland and The Rock plantations were said to be handling their production problems.
“While I understand the frustrations of the owners, the fact of the matter is that they will be paid something [if the canes are reaped and delivered to the factory],” he said. “If you are saying to me that you are prepared to receive nothing at all instead of at least something, it says that you are not even willing to minimise your losses.”
Paul said the BAS would have to hold discussions with large plantations on what are the major problems they face and the likely solutions.
Complaining that much agricultural land had ended up as residential areas over the years, he said every effort had to be made to keep the sugar cane lands in production.
According to Paul, there was need to bring together all the major players within agriculture to discuss the sector’s future.
It was “extremely important” that production capacity in the sugar industry and agriculture generally be preserved and “that we don’t have such large plantations going out of production”, he said.
“In terms of the agricultural sector, we are at a serious crossroads and the fact that large plantations within the agricultural sector are behaving in the manner in which they are I think sends a very dangerous signal,” he told the MIDWEEK NATION. (TY)
