Keith Collister, Contributor
Peter McConnell on the Worthy Park Estate in Lluidasvale, St. Catherine. - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Peter McConnell and his family have been involved in the sugar industry for a very long time. With hard work and dedication over the years, their estate at Worthy Park - one of two privately owned sugar factories on the island - has become the most efficient in Jamaica and the Caribbean.
Mr. McConnell explains that energy efficiency and proper factory and field management were the key factors responsible for the success of Worthy Park Estate. He noted that the continuous increases in oil prices and electricity charges have made it compulsory for them to be energy efficient. Unlike most factories, Worthy Park "doesn't have JPS" says Mr. McConnell. Instead, "we use bagasse to meet the electricity needs of not only the whole factory, but the surrounding sugar estate, with diesel generators only as a back-up and for use in the out-of-crop period."
WHAT IS BAGASSE?
Bagasse is the fibre left over from crushing sugar cane. It is burnt in large furnaces, creating a huge amount of heat, which is used in turn to boil water and make high-pressure steam. The steam is then used to drive turbines, producing both electricity and low pressure steam for making sugar.
"We burn no oil or gas," says Mr. McConnell. And "any excess bagasse is used as chicken litter in our chicken rearing operation and when discarded is composed and used as fertiliser in our cane fields."
He notes that proper fertiliser application, weed control and reaping and cane-cutting methods were also important to producing sugar efficiently. Mr. McConnell says replanting on time is a very important factor too. In his opinion, cane fields should be replanted based on yield levels.
"We replant our fields whenever yields fall below 74 tonnes per hectare. However, because Worthy Park has better management, we ratoon for approximately eight or nine years without seeing a decrease in yields." He says even some of their older fields can still yield over 100 tonnes of sugar cane per hectare. "On average, we produce around 85-90 tonnes of cane per hectare."
Worthy Park does not irrigate because they do not have access to irrigated water. With irrigation he believes they could produce an average of 115 tonnes of cane per hectare. But Mr. McConnell explains that the cost to put in place an irrigation system was too expensive and the benefits from the increased production could not pay for the infrastructure. Despite that, he notes that "at Worthy Park we take under nine tonnes of cane to make one tonne of sugar."
The Worthy Park boss pointed out that the conversion rate from sugar cane to sugar has fallen significantly over the past few decades. It currently requires over 12 tonnes of cane to produce one tonne of sugar. "The island used to convert at 10 tonnes of cane to one tonne of sugar, now the industry is at 12 tonnes of cane to one tonne of sugar," he explains.
He concedes that the cooler temperature associated with the altitude of the factory could be a factor in Worthy Park achieving a better conversion rate of cane to sugar. Mr. McConnell, however, argues the plantations located in flat areas have an advantage over Worthy Park in terms of the transportation of cane and access to irrigation.
With declining yields, growing inefficiencies and dwindling profits affecting the government-run sugar factories, Mr. McConnell says the difference with his factory is that he has a strong and dedicated family and management team. He believes there is a critical difference between how his family operates their estate and how the government manages the factories under its control. "My family owns it, we live on it and run it (and) we have a very motivated and dedicated team of management and workers at all levels, which is a great part of our success."
"If you don't bring the government factories and fields up to efficient levels of production, there is absolutely no hope of surviving on the new sugar prices without massive subsidy," he emphasises.
Speaking at a Gleaner Editors' Forum in January, Mr. McConnell pointed out that "we don't have the management in Jamaica that know how to efficiently run a sugar industry. We have lost that management, but it is certainly available overseas and we need to bring in top experts in sugar manufacturing and in planting and put them in charge and give them the necessary capital to be able to do it properly."
He said at the Forum that Worthy Park has to import persons with the requisite skills from Guyana to assist in managing the estate.
With the emphasis now on reshaping the sugar industry to one that involves the production of value-added products such as ethanol and electricity generation, Mr. McConnell believes concentrating on making more molasses to produce rum would be more beneficial and achievable. Whilst he has not researched the issue sufficiently to comment definitively, his main concern is that if we are already importing more than 50 per cent of the molasses needed to make rum. "What is it that the country is going to make ethanol from?" he questioned. "Bear in mind that rum from molasses has a higher value than ethanol. Also if you make ethanol from cane juice only you are loosing the value added of sugar and molasses."
He believes if we can make ethanol out of cane juice directly, there might be an opportunity for Jamaica in this area.
