Don’t be discouraged, Samuda tells sugar industry

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon Karl Samuda, is encouraging stakeholders in the sugar industry to have a positive outlook on the sector and to “move forward with the confidence that this industry will rise again”.
Minister Samuda, who was speaking at the 80th annual conference of the Jamaica Association of Sugar Technologists (JAST) November 2 in Ocho Rios, said there was “an enormous reservoir of potential” in the sugar cane industry.
The agriculture minister said that in comparison to the US$370 per tonne paid for raw sugar in the European market, value-added sugar products could fetch prices as high as US$2,000 per tonne for the commodity.
Against the background of the end of the special quota arrangement to the European market for sugar from the African Caribbean and Pacific countries effective October 1, this year, Minister Samuda encouraged local producers to expand production to supply both the local and CARICOM markets.
Turning to the matter of increased production and productivity, Minister Samuda outlined a number of steps to increase efficiency in the field. He said, for example, some 7,500 hectares of cane was required to make production at the Monymusk factory in Clarendon viable. Currently only 3,500 hectares are available.
The Minister reported that some 18,000 hectares of leased lands have been returned by the Chinese to the Government of Jamaica and there were now several opportunities for investors to get involved in the use of these lands, not just for sugar but for diversification into the cultivation of other crops such as onion, the minister said.
Minister Samuda thanked the European Union for its contribution over the past 10 years through the Sugar Transformation Programme. In addition, in the face of the impact of climate change, he identified continued improvement in infrastructure, irrigation, agronomic practices as well as increased investments as being essential to the future viability of the industry.
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