By Vishani Ragobeer

THOUSANDS of cane varieties have been destroyed resulting in a potential loss of billions of dollars in future cash flows due to the occupation of lands that belong to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) by squatters.

Several squatters have been occupying GuySuCo’s lands in Vryheid’s Lust, Success, and Chateau Margot areas along the East Coast of Demerara (ECD). Numerous structures have been erected in these areas, even some appearing to be permanent structures.

The squatters have lamented that their financial constraints, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, have forced them to squat. However, their occupation has been quite costly to the corporation, which is looking to make a comeback.

“We lost around 16,000 varieties of cane which were being evaluated and can never ever be replaced,” head of the Agriculture Research Centre at GuySuCo, Gavin Ramnarain, said.

These varieties were being planted at the GuySuCo research breeding fields located at Chateau Margot (called the “CM” Field), adjacent to the old GuySuCo’s fields at Success where the squatters have settled.

As the squatters settled here, they began clearing the land to erect their structures, and some starting small farms to support their sustenance. But, in so doing, they destroyed the crops which were being studied. The fields occupied by the GuySuCo Research department there are 73 hectares in total and contain some 81,730 varieties under evaluation.

“Initially, the squatters burnt field CM 44 a few weeks ago with a loss of 420 Varieties. This was soon followed by the burning of other fields with a further loss of 16,650 varieties of experimental canes,” Ramnarain elaborated.

“The department has 31 hectares in cane at this point, it would be a calamity if these were to be burnt,” he said too, emphasising that it takes just less than two decades to produce a commercial variety of sugarcane.

The cane crop, much like human beings, creates unique genetic combinations when crossed to create new seedlings. Ramnarain explained that each seedling has a completely different genetic makeup than the next. And due to this, different varieties of the cane have varying characteristics, some of which may be more resilient, or suitable for planting in the various soil types than others.

The development of the varieties of cane takes about 14 to 18 years; during this time, approximately 100,000 seedlings are sowed and tested and monitored over the years to determine their quality, size, resilience to pests and diseases, and adaptability to the various soil types. This is done to determine which are commercially viable for the corporation.

Moreover, the loss of the varieties of cane could cost the corporation, which is looking to make a comeback, more than $2 Billion in future cash flows, according to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Sasenarine Singh, in an interview with the News Room.

Ramnarain explained that a “star” variety cane, which is a crop that has proven to be commercially viable, can be responsible for about 25 per cent of the corporation’s annual production, which equates to $2 Billion.

“We do not know how (many) ‘star’ performers were lost in that nearly 17,000 varieties that were put on fire by the squatters, but we can expect we lost a fair few and thereby losing billions of dollars that they would have generated,” Ramnarain lamented.

The destruction of these 16,000 varieties represents nearly two decades of data generated, which cannot be replaced also.