Grinding capacity doubled by BSI's mills

The Ministry of Agriculture has been moving aggressively at trying to placate discontent that was occurring in the sugar industry at the start of the crop. In speaking with CEO in the Ministry of Agriculture, Gabino Canto, he explains that last week Friday the ministry met with the cane farmers association in the morning and went on to meetings with BSI in the afternoon.

During the meetings, the ministry sought to get the concerns of the cane farmers and pass them on to BSI.

Canto explains that there are some “salient issues that needs to be addressed by the Cane Farmers Association”. Key among those issues is the fact that the
farmers appear to be divided in the decisions that they make. Some of them, says Canto, appear to be unwilling to speak with BSI’s management, while the factory’s management says that it has an open door policy to discussion.

While Canto explains that there may be communication problems with the Cane Farmers Association and BSI, he adds that in meetings with BSI it has been revealed that since the sugar crop began the factory has doubled its grinding capacity. The factory he says is grinding sugar cane at four thousand tons per day while in the past that was at about two thousand tons per day. This translates to 275 tons of sugar cane being processed per hour while in the past that was down to 150 tons.

Canto also notes that the factory has two boilers; one of which is working at full capacity while the second one is currently being repaired. Other problems that are being encountered include the fact that there is too much mud in the sugar cane being delivered. Reports from BSI indicate that there is 11.5 percent mud in the sugar cane being delivered this year as opposed to 5.8 percent last year. The most significant concern that there is and the point of contention between BSI and the cane farmers is the long wait that they have to endure when delivering the cane. To this, there is the suggestion that the cutting of cane be suspended until the mill is able to process the cane that is queued outside of the factory.

Additionally a sugar cane harvesting committee has been established to determine who cuts cane and how much is cut to avoid the backlog. There are 18 cane farmer divisions in the Corozal and Orange Walk districts and each will have to allot who will cut and how much cane will be cut. A problem that is being encountered is that farmers, in the trying economic times, are trying to put in as much cane as possible in order to make much needed income.

Canto adds that as of Thursday of last week four thousand metric tons of sugar had been produced, that is about 11 percent less than what had been produced last year at the same time. He, however, is confident that at an increased grinding rate the industry will be able to catch up on its grinding. He continued explaining that there is a 25 percent increase in the production of cane by farmers, but he does not anticipate any problems with this as the factory will be able to process it.

While the concern for now is the processing of sugar cane, Canto explains that the government is also looking at serious assistance to be offered to the sugar cane farmers. Through the Sugar Industry Control Board technical assistance will be given to the farmers; included is the provision of two Ministry of Agriculture extension officers who will be assigned to that entity. This kind of assistance has not been offered to the sugar cane farmers in the past 50 years.

source: guardian