The Third and final payment for the end of the 2023-2024 Sugar Crop Season will be made on Monday November 4th, and it's the biggest payout yet, a total of BZ$90.95 per ton of cane.
Thanks to favorable world prices, the industry appears to be booming, and its director of Finance Shawn Chavarria says that he has high hopes and expectations that the industry will continue to perform going into the 2025 season.
Shawn Chavarria, Director of Finance, ASR/BSI
"As we've highlighted in the press release, this really comes at a good time for farmers as the industry is battling a new disease called fusarium and it's affecting the growth of the sugarcane. While it's not pronounced throughout the industry, it's mainly being seen in the Corozal district."
"It is something that the industry needs to pay close attention to and there are certain preventative measures that we will need to put in place. So in terms of disposable income, this payment comes at a really good time given it's a record price. It's one of the highest farmers will receive. And so farmers will be able to have this additional funds to be able to put in place some mitigation control. But it will be a good day for farmers. We believe a lot of them will be very pleased with the key payment."
"It continues to demonstrate the benefits of the commercial agreement where we're sharing the value of all the sugars that we produce, including the value of added sugar, where we continue to get good prices, particularly in Caricom and we're seeing good value for the sugar being produced."
"So it will be a good day. And we hope that farmers take this opportunity to use these funds to not only address fusarium, but also consider replanting. There are some programs that are coming on stream."
"The Green Climate Fund, a grant of 25 million US. We have AgroPro last week, we launched Margro. We also know that there's the CRISAP from the World Bank, which will also provide grant funding. So the industry is really set up for the next few years to be able to improve its competitiveness."
"And so we hope that farmers use this opportunity to take advantage and improve their productivity and improve their long -term sustainability."
