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THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) is deliberately curtailing the first crop of 2013 in an effort to achieve better yield in the next crop from canes which are very young at this stage. This is according to Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who during a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, said so far approximately 48,000 tonnes of sugar had been produced for the crop.
He indicated that it is very unlikely that the 70,000 tonnes targeted for this crop will be achieved, since some estates have stopped grinding earlier than originally intended,
“But people should not get too worked up about that, because we are deliberately curtailing this crop. There is a lot of young cane that would give you better yield if you were to keep them a little longer but those canes were part of the first crop production,” he explained.
However, he added that instead of utilising those canes within this first crop, they will be used early in the next crop when they would be more mature and a better yield is expected.
In addition, he related that the second crop of this year will also be starting earlier than most second crops usually start, so that it would be an extended second crop.
The minister noted that while the second crop usually starts sometime at the end of July into August, it is now going to start around June at many of the estates.
“So instead of working into May and then take June and most of July for the preparation for the second crop, for servicing the factories and so on, we are going to take May and half of April to do some of the servicing, and therefore we are cutting this crop short and utilising the cane at a time when it will give greater yield so that we will make up for the losses in the first crop by having better cane to work with,” he disclosed.
Meanwhile, as it relates to the Skeldon Factory, which has attracted some attention since its commissioning in 2009, the minister said that there has been some improvement in its functioning since the completion of some remedial works.
South African firm, Bosch was contracted to modify the factory, which had been touted as the flagship of the sugar industry but was plagued with several issues affecting its efficient functioning.
However, Dr. Ramsammy pointed out that they are not satisfied with at least one of the six components modified by Bosch Engineering and that the company has been asked to return to rectify that.
He explained that this has to do with the conveyer belt, which picks up the cane from the dumper and takes it to the actual grinding factory. Because of this, he said, the factory is not yet achieving optimum production.
Apart from the work by Bosch, he advised that there is additional work to be done that was not catered for in the budget last year.
“We’re now trying to do that work, the main one is the punt dumper. Together the punt dumper and the conveyer belt, they represent the feeding of the cane to the actual cane processing to produce sugar. If we don’t get those taken care of we are not going to get the optimum production of the factory,” he said.
Nevertheless, he stressed that while that is being worked on, Skeldon is functioning with improvements. He noted that in 2011, for example, the factory was producing sugar at about 22-23 tonnes of cane per ton of sugar, compared to the old factory which produced at about 15-16 tonnes.
He related, though, that late last year when there was an extended dry season, the factory was producing at around 13 tonnes of cane to a ton of sugar, which is what was hoped for.
“The goal of the factory is to produce at about 11. So that demonstrates the potential that we can get everything right. So far this season, since it started back with the improved structural changes that were made, it has on a number of occasions worked at around 12, which therefore demonstrated the potential,” he stated.
He indicated that it is very unlikely that the 70,000 tonnes targeted for this crop will be achieved, since some estates have stopped grinding earlier than originally intended,
“But people should not get too worked up about that, because we are deliberately curtailing this crop. There is a lot of young cane that would give you better yield if you were to keep them a little longer but those canes were part of the first crop production,” he explained.
However, he added that instead of utilising those canes within this first crop, they will be used early in the next crop when they would be more mature and a better yield is expected.
In addition, he related that the second crop of this year will also be starting earlier than most second crops usually start, so that it would be an extended second crop.
The minister noted that while the second crop usually starts sometime at the end of July into August, it is now going to start around June at many of the estates.
“So instead of working into May and then take June and most of July for the preparation for the second crop, for servicing the factories and so on, we are going to take May and half of April to do some of the servicing, and therefore we are cutting this crop short and utilising the cane at a time when it will give greater yield so that we will make up for the losses in the first crop by having better cane to work with,” he disclosed.
Meanwhile, as it relates to the Skeldon Factory, which has attracted some attention since its commissioning in 2009, the minister said that there has been some improvement in its functioning since the completion of some remedial works.
South African firm, Bosch was contracted to modify the factory, which had been touted as the flagship of the sugar industry but was plagued with several issues affecting its efficient functioning.
However, Dr. Ramsammy pointed out that they are not satisfied with at least one of the six components modified by Bosch Engineering and that the company has been asked to return to rectify that.
He explained that this has to do with the conveyer belt, which picks up the cane from the dumper and takes it to the actual grinding factory. Because of this, he said, the factory is not yet achieving optimum production.
Apart from the work by Bosch, he advised that there is additional work to be done that was not catered for in the budget last year.
“We’re now trying to do that work, the main one is the punt dumper. Together the punt dumper and the conveyer belt, they represent the feeding of the cane to the actual cane processing to produce sugar. If we don’t get those taken care of we are not going to get the optimum production of the factory,” he said.
Nevertheless, he stressed that while that is being worked on, Skeldon is functioning with improvements. He noted that in 2011, for example, the factory was producing sugar at about 22-23 tonnes of cane per ton of sugar, compared to the old factory which produced at about 15-16 tonnes.
He related, though, that late last year when there was an extended dry season, the factory was producing at around 13 tonnes of cane to a ton of sugar, which is what was hoped for.
“The goal of the factory is to produce at about 11. So that demonstrates the potential that we can get everything right. So far this season, since it started back with the improved structural changes that were made, it has on a number of occasions worked at around 12, which therefore demonstrated the potential,” he stated.
