BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, – A Japanese delegation is due here on Monday for talks with Agriculture Minister Dr. David Estwick on the possibility of funding the restructuring of the sugar cane industry.
A government statement said that the delegation from the Japanese company Marubeni Corporation have expressed an interest in funding the project.
Government plans to embark on a BDS$200 million (US$100 million) project to diversify the sugar industry with bagasse, ethanol, special sugars and molasses.
This was revealed by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Senator Darcy Boyce, who says Government is also looking at producing bagasse outside of the sugar industry.
The sugar industry must be expanded in order to survive.
Dr Atlee Brathwaite, chairman of the Barbados Sugar Industry Limited (BSIL), and Barbados Cane Industry Corporation (BCIC) said the uses of the sugar cane plant are one way to preserve the industry.
Brathwaite explained that the island can ill afford the demise of the industry.
“To sell raw sugar at the prices that obtain now, it would not be viable,” he said. “There are still good prices that one could fetch for specialised sugar.
Government is looking at proposals by farmers to reopen the sugar industry and access funds from the European Union, Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath said yesterday.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Sugar and Energy Festival at Gilbert Park, Couva, Bharath said Government had identified seven pillars for the development of the agriculture sector, including a focus on people-centred development, poverty eradication and social justice, national and personal security, information and communication technologies, knowledge intensive economy, good governance and foreign policy.
Noting that the festival theme ’Growing with Energy’ focused on agriculture this year, Bharath said ’it seeks to encourage individuals to get involved in agricultural production, be it back yard gardening or grow box’.
He said that lands from the former Caroni (1975) Ltd estate under the Estate Management and Business Development Company would be placed under the Food Production Ministry and efforts would be made to ensure that it was used solely for agricultural production.
He said that Government was seeking to increase agricultural contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from less than 0.6 per cent to three per cent in five years.
’A bottom up approach is being adopted to drive the sector forward,’ he said.
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source: trinidadexpress
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