Close To $3 Million Dollars to Adress Sugar Crisis
With sugarcane fields under threat from a fast-spreading disease, the government is stepping in with a five hundred-thousand-dollar pilot project to test treatments that show early signs of success. But that鈥檚 just the beginning. Backed by regional and international partners, nearly three million dollars has now been identified for an emergency response. Prime Minister John Brice帽o says it鈥檚 clear what needs to be done: prevent the north from suffering the same fate as the south. But with the clock ticking and farmers already feeling the pressure, will this be enough to turn things around before it鈥檚 too late?
Prime Minister John Brice帽o
鈥淲e cannot and we will not allow, what happened to the sugar industry in the south to happen to our sugar cane farmers in the north. If we are to be successful at this interministerial collaboration taking place it is will be important to do some of the following interventions, which we have to start implementation immediately. One, five hundred thousand dollars has already been identified by the ministry of agriculture which will be allocated immediately to a pilot project to start ridding these fields of the disease. Last November SIRDI moved quickly to identify a possible treatment option and earlier this year testing this technology on two farm plots. The results of this treatment looks promising. We also met with BSI/ASR and they have brought in their soil scientist where they have had a lot of success. They also have a treatment for this fungus. They will be working with us, it is a joint effort to see how we will halt this disease and cure some of the fields infected. With this hundred thousand dollars the plan is to replicate this treatment on a larger scale to treat the first two thousand five hundred acres.鈥
P.M. Brice帽o also revealed that Senior Economist Doctor Marcelino Avilla has been appointed to lead a sugar committee tasked with developing a plan to modernize the industry based on recommendations from the commission of inquiry report.