–as country sets massive targets for production, mechanisation works, President Ali announces

TECHNICAL specialists will soon arrive in Guyana to help bolster the country’s sugar industry by providing additional support in the areas of mechanisation, field management, agro-management, and crop management, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has announced.
The Head of State, during a recent press conference, said that some seven specialists will be integrated into the local industry’s management system to support the modernisation and transformation of the sugar industry.
Already, Guyana is receiving the support of several specialists from Cuba.
“There are 12 specialists from Cuba and seven technical persons expected from India, specialised in mechanisation, field management, agro-management, and crop management. These technical people will be embedded in the management system to support the modernisation and transformation of the sugar industry,” the President said.
Guyana is expected to produce some 800,000 tonnes of cane in its second crop cycle for the year, which will begin early July. Currently, massive mechanisation works are underway at several sugar estates.
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) officials have reported ongoing activities at the sugar estates’ cane fields. These endeavours involve the clearing of forested lands to facilitate the substantial replanting of sugar cane.
“We have converted over 12,500 hectares of land, 40 per cent of the total land under cultivation, for mechanised planting and harvesting,” the President said.
Concurrently, works are being done to enhance packaging facilities and several estates.
“We will commence construction of the Blairmont Packaging Plant to increase the production of value-added packaged sugar. We have launched a new value-added packaged brand from Albion Gem and Demerara Gold sugar sticks,” Dr. Ali said.
He added: “We are implementing new technology to support agricultural operations, such as population agrochemical application drones, which increase efficiency and reduce costs. We have increased public-private partnerships to support industry operations.”
At the Albion Sugar Estate in Berbice, Region Six. The Guyana Chronicle witnessed land clearing, tilling, and planting during a recent visit to the sugar cane fields.
“We can have a wall of cane because this mechanised planting is a guarantee process where we can safely say our replanting programme will be completed; all fields will be into production now,” Yudhisthira Mana, the estate manager had told this publication.
The ongoing process will guarantee the estate 20 per cent replanting annually, bringing sugar production at that facility to its full potential.
By 2026, it is projected that the Albion estate will have the capacity to produce over 55,000 tonnes of sugar.
Over time, this process is anticipated to decrease operational expenses. Lands are undergoing a conversion in this process.
The mechanisation process will see wider beds being prepared for planting.
Over the decades, land preparation for the sugar industry has been done by traditional means, and according to Mr. Mana, it’s ‘fascinating’ to see the mechanisation process come to life.
Historically, the manual planting of sugarcane has been the customary practice. The manual harvesting of sugarcane is a common practice. Once the cane is harvested, occasionally the roots are left in the ground to foster the growth of new plants. Intersecting the sugarcane fields are numerous canals.
A typical sugarcane field has canals covering nearly one-eighth of its surface. For irrigation, this complex network of canals is employed. To get the canes to the industries, these canals are also used for transit. From the fields to the factory, sugarcane is transported aboard punts, which are small, flat-bottomed boats.
However, with mechanisation, planting is done using heavy machinery. GuySuCo has two planting seasons: The first starts from mid-January to April while the second, which is the larger of the two, will be from mid-July to November.
The planting period consists of a total of 210 days. With the mechanised approach, more planting will be done.