Adrian Frater, News Editor
Sweet pepper plants growing on lands owned by Hampden Sugar Estate in Trelawny as part of the Sugar Company of Jamaica's (SCJ) diversification programme.
WESTERN BUREAU:
WHILE THE future of local sugar appears uncertain, some stake-holders believe the sugar industry can survive with the use of new technologies in the production of sugar.
In fact, some sugar experts see the expanding use of new technology as one of the pillars that will keep local sugar alive as the Government seeks to re-structure the industry to meet the changing times and improve production and efficiency.
"The sector has benefited tremendously from the introduction of new technologies over the past 20 years, and technology will be central to all future development," said Astil Sangster, chairman of the West End Cane Farmers Association. "Over the past 20 years, we have benefited tremendously from factors such as mechanisation as mechanical loading and mechanical reaping have minimised the fallout due to the reduction of the workforce in sugar."
IMPROVED EFFICIENCY
Sugar Industry Authority (SIA) official Keith Scott pointed to improved efficiency through factors such as a new energy efficiency programme adopted by factories, the development of new varieties of canes and changes in planting and reaping methods.
"Factors such as the introduction of harvesters have led to improved efficiency in terms of the reaping of cane," noted Mr. Scott. "The retooling of the estates through new equipment has also resulted in cane being processed at a faster rate and at a lower cost."
According to Tony Falloon, the Agricultural Service Manager at the SIA, the most significant technologies introduced in the sugar sector in recent years are: the new cane testing system, which provides immediate information on the quality of the cane when tested on arrival at the factory gate and development of new variety of canes, which has eliminated some of the diseases that formerly plagued the industry.
NO IMPROVEMENT
Mr. Falloon further said that while additional technologies such as the Reduce Tillage Machine, which is used to prepare land for cultivation and the mechanisation of the industry are important, it should be noted that they do not lead to an improve-ment in the quality of the sugar produced.
"It is important that farmers plant the new canes that have been developed as these are resistant to the diseases we had affecting cane in the past," said Mr. Falloon. "The canes we have developed in recent years are resistant to diseases such as rust and smog."
Mr. Sangster said he was impressed by the new variety of canes developed, especially the 78,100 type, which he said farmers like. According to him, he was most impressed with the work being done to improve the quality of cane produced locally.
While not being exactly a new technology, the drive to get the five state-owned sugar factories to become more efficient in terms of providing their own electricity, is central to plans to make the factories more economically viable.
In addition to providing electricity to power most of the equipment in their sugar-making operations, Government is also looking to use baggasse (cane trash) as fuel for the boilers to produce steam to drive the turbines to generate electricity.
Last year, Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke told Parliament that the Government was planning to sell the surplus electricity generated by the factories to the Jamaica Public Service. "That is a direction in which the Government is looking because we see this as another way of generating income for the sector," he said.
REPLACING MANUAL LABOUR
At the Hampden Estate in Trelawny, which was used as the benchmark for the SCJ's new crop diversification initiative two years ago, mechanisation has been brought in to replace manual labour in the preparation of lands and 200 hectares of lands, previously used for cane cultivation, is being used to produce mixed-crops such as sweet pepper and scallion for the export market.
"The plan for Hampden is to create a highly efficient and profitable agricultural operation that will serve as a model of development for the sugar industry," Livingstone Morrison, president and chief executive officer of the SCJ said at the launch of the Hampden project in September 2003.
With the European Union threatening to wipe out preferential trade arrangements with African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, the new programme, alongside the Government's three-pronged Country Strategy, which is geared towards the efficient production of Raw Sugar, Molasses and Ethanol, is expected to steer the direction of the local sugar industry.
However, some stakeholders are worried about the Government's ability to keep the sector alive. "I just don't believe our sugar is on a safe footing because the changes being made by Government are moving too slowly," said Mr. Sangster, who wants Government to forge a partnership with the Brazilian sugar interest and adopt their model. "I seriously doubt that Government has the money to support the planned changes."
Speaking at a Gleaner Editor's Forum in Trelawny last year, Kingsley Thomas, who worked in the sugar sector for five years, said "sugar is technically dead and we better realise this."
Sugar has been an integral part of the local economy, dating back to the pre-emancipation era. According to information sourced from the SIA, up to the 1980s, sugar cane fields accounted for 25 per cent of the lands under cultivation in Jamaica and provided 18 per cent of the local jobs.
