By Cedric Johnson, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
MORE PROBLEMS are looming for the already limping sugar industry, as more than half of the cane fields that supply the Frome factory in Westmoreland have still not been planted, and according to the West End Cane Farmers Association, there appears to be no great effort on the part of Government to advance the replanting process.
"If Frome is to increase its output for the 2003-2004 crop, all the available fields should have already been fully planted," said the chairman of the West End Cane Farmers' Association, Astill Sangster, speaking to The Gleaner on Tuesday.
Responding to a weekend announcement by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke, at the Denbigh Agriculture Show, that Government intends to restructure the sugar industry, Mr. Sangster said any such plan would have to begin by recognising that the cane replanting programme must be the focus, and act in a manner to encourage it.
On the question of incentives which, he said, could boost the farmers' productive effort, the cane farmers' boss said one of the concerns his members have been expressing is the wide difference between those farmers receiving the higher payment of up to $1,200 a tonne and those at the lower end receiving $900 a tonne.
"This differential is too wide; it is proving to be a serious disincentive. The pricing formula needs to be revisited as I believe the gap should not be more that $150 a tonne," Mr. Sangster said.
Continuing, he said it was the view of the members of his association that the first payment to farmers should not be less than $750 a tonne, noting that at present, some are getting as low as $300 a tonne. When it is all added up, it would be unrealistic for the average total payment to fall below the $1,300 a tonne mark.
"If increased production is to be achieved, this payment scale and schedule must be re-examined and upgraded. It can be done if the factory becomes more efficient as proven in the final period of the last crop. I can tell you that if this is done, farmers will not have to depend on loans," Mr. Sangster said.
The Frome Sugar Factory, Jamaica's largest sugar estate, produced some 10,000 tonnes below its projected 67,000-tonne target during the crop just ended, although it has the capacity to deliver almost 90,000 tonnes.
