By Clive Simpson, Gleaner WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
WITH LAST week's ground-breaking ceremony now history, the revitalised Hampden Sugar Estate in Trelawny has commenced its ambitious new multi-crop project, aimed at boosting cane and sugar production and added economic growth through agriculture and tourism.
At last Thursday's low-keyed ground-breaking ceremony, representatives of the Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings (SCJH) detailed plans to put the Hampden Estate on a sound economic platform with the support of selected former employees and the wider community.
Livingston Morrison, SCJH President, who broke ground with a mechanical plough, said the ultimate plan is to transform the cane operations into a highly efficient state-of-the-art business, which should become a profitable endeavour by the end of the 2004/2005 crop.
"We hope to meet our objective through the implementation of an aggressive replanting programme and the re-organisation of the cane farming department to ensure the highest level of productivity among the employees," Mr. Morrison said.
REDEVELOPMENT OF CANE FIELDS
Mr. Morrison said that given the need to increase cane supplies to the Long Pond factory in Clarks Town, Trelawny, it had become necessary to accelerate the redevelopment of cane fields at Hampden. In outlining how the lands would be allocated, he said the majority would go into growing canes.
"Of a total acreage of 1,500 hectares, 1,300 hectares have been allocated for growing canes and 200 hectares for mixed crops," said Mr. Morrison. "Two hundred hectares have already been planted in cane, with another 600 hectares scheduled over the next six months. The remaining 300 hectares will be planted by September 2004."
Faced with a history of declining production and yearly losses, Hampden was closed earlier this year and canes, formerly milled by the factory, redirected to Long Pond.
"The cane farming operations had deteriorated to an unacceptably low level," said Mr. Morrison, in citing that production had declined from 62,981 tonnes of cane in 1996 to 18,486 tonnes during the last crop, while 760 hectares or 51% of available land have been lying fallow.
In stating that the redevelopment project was closely linked to cane yields, Mr. Morrison said the utilisation of mechanised production technologies, which include the redesigning and re-blocking of fields and the installation of highly efficient irrigation systems such as centre pivot and drip, would be central to increasing production.
According to Mr. Morrison, the projection is for cane supply to be increased six-fold, from the present 18,000 tonnes to 110,000 tonnes by the 2004/2005 crop. That amount of cane should yield approximately 10,200 tonnes of sugar.
Regarding the mixed crop component of the project, Mr. Morrison said SCJH has selected Hampden Estate to initiate the commercialisation of the crop diversification programme which, in the first phase, will involve the establishment of 200 hectares of selected short to medium term crops primarily for export.
