GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) should produce about 60,000 tonnes of sugar by the end of this year as the government continues to seek help to boost the industry.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali declared this as he spoke in East Coast Demerara (ECD)on Friday.
“It is my understanding that we should be ending this year at 60,000 tonnes (of sugar), and we’re working towards getting up to 100,000 tonnes in the new year,” he said.
Ramping up production is attributed to several new developments, including reopening the Rose Hall Estate in Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne) later this year.
A new packaging plant at Albion, Region Six, is also slated to open this year.
But Ali also pointed out that one of the substantial challenges gripping the sugar industry is sugarcane cultivation.
To remedy this, Guyana is engaging three foreign partners- India, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic- to get the scientific help needed to determine the most suitable variety of sugarcane for planting locally.
He disclosed that Those partners might help Guyana set up a new plant nursery so that the most suitable crop varieties will be grown in large enough batches to satisfy local demands.
In the 2023 National Budget, GuySuCO got a multi-billion dollar subvention to support expansion plans. In December, the Parliamentary Committee of Supply approved one billion in supplementary funding for GuySuCo to help retool sugar estates.
The Irfaan Ali-led government has made it clear that it will be investing heavily in the sugar industry to revive the sugar sector and make it lucrative once more.
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