By Kurt Campbell
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy says the recent difficulties that sugar has faced in its production have largely been one of adapting to the weather insecurity that has evolved rapidly in Guyana and around the world.
The Minister expressed the belief that the local industry has the capacity to produce significant amounts of sugar but contended that a solution must be found to deal with the changing weather pattern that is creating a major challenge for the crop.
“Sometimes people talk about factories and management but the truth is that when you have good weather you have good production, and when there is bad production there is usually bad weather… Guyana will have to confront weather constraints” Dr. Ramsammy added.
He explained that sugar requires 14 – 20 weeks of dry weather to strive which usually is the same period that rice needs a wet season to grow. “Guyana used to have two wet and two dry seasons for a particular length very regular now u doesn’t have that” he said, adding that “Sugar will have to find an answer to how it will adjust to that.”
Dr. Ramsammy further noted that he is working with Guysuco officials to set a new target, noting that the second crop of sugar which surpassed 105,000 tons has been by far a good one. A total of 160,000 tons of sugar has been harvested so far for 2013.
