THIS YEAR'S SUGAR harvest should get under way next month. Chairman of Barbados Sugar Industries Limited (BSIL), Dr Atlee Brathwaite, told the DAILY NATION yesterday in a telephone interview the BSIL was hoping to begin harvesting on February 15.

"We don't anticipate any issues that would prevent harvesting from starting given the fact that we have an agreement which ends in December.

"The only problem that will prevent a prompt start will be perhaps the readiness of the factory but BAMC [Barbados Management Management Company] assures the farming public that the factories are in a position to start around the 15th," he said.

Brathwaite said that unfortunately fewer canes would be produced this year and put the figure around 15 268 acres or about 770 acres less than last year when the total acreage harvested "in terms of sugar" was around 14 489.

He also took the opportunity to congratulate the new Democratic Labour Party Government.

Asked about fuel cane production, the BSIL chairman said this was an area that warranted closer examination.

"We need to have a hard look at the fuel cane because [it] is essentially to do with the generation of electricity and at the moment the yields that were anticipated from the fuel cane, we haven't really achieved those yields."

Brathwaite said that getting bagasse from normal cane may well be an option to look at.
"I'm not saying that you shouldn't look at fuel cane but it will take some time before farmers really accept the fuel cane. It is not high in sucrose, it is mainly to do with the generation of electricity and some ethanol."

He said that the "level of investment" to be used to achieve the high value end products must also be examined. (DS)