Sugar Cane Season Opens with High Hopes for Successful Harvest

The 2026 sugar crop officially kicked off today, and it did so with celebration. Farmers, industry leaders, and government officials gathered at the Belize Sugar Industries compound in Tower Hill, Orange Walk, to mark the start of the new season. Now, if you remember last year, 2025 was a tough one for the sugar industry. Fusarium disease ravaged fields, wiping out large portions of the crop. And on top of that, heavy, prolonged rains made it almost impossible to repair the roads needed to transport cane to the factory. So yes, the season is getting underway a little later than usual. But despite that slow start, officials are optimistic. They say the industry is bouncing back and could once again hit that one million ton mark this year. News Five’s Britney Gordon was in Tower Hill today and tells us more.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Belize’s 2025/2026 sugar cane season is getting a late start after a rough year for growers. Farmers and industry leaders gathered today to launch the new crop, despite months of setbacks from fusarium disease that devastated fields in the north. BSI’s General Manager, Mac McLachlan, says recovery is still underway, but he’s confident the industry is moving in the right direction.

 

Mac McLachlan, General Manager, Belize Sugar Industries

“We’re not back to where we need to be. We are very grateful to the government of Belize for supporting an immediate intervention on fusarium. Fusarium is a is a disease that that affects cane. It stunts its growth, it prevents it from developing properly. The government very quickly put in three million of support that enabled us to spray fifty-four thousand acres of cane land with pesticides that are gonna help to reduce those fungicides, I should say. Beg your pardon. And beyond that, we saw cane developing and growing again, but we’re expecting more cane this year than we had last year. Last year was a low, we had nine hundred thousand  tons. This mill has milled one point three million tons in the past, and that’s where we want to get back to. But we are reckoning we’ll be perhaps a shade over a million tons.”

 

Beyond the ongoing battle against fusarium, another major challenge encountered by farmers was climate change. Heavy rains left sugar roads in terrible shape, making it hard to harvest crops. According to Chairperson of the Corozal Sugar Cane Famers Association, Vladimir Puck, the industry is recovering thanks to strong cooperation among farmers, the government, and the mill.

 

On the Phone: Vladimir Puck, Chairperson, Czl Sugar Cane Famers Association

“The government, especially Minister Osmond, also the Prime Minister, we have had various, before crop, have had various meetings, trying to out little fires out there before they get bigger. For us to have a fruitful crop and also looking after you harvest the cane, right? Which will be the husbandry that we will be giving to the ratoons right when they start to grow back. So it is very important. And with the help of the government, yes, they have been some monies allocated for that. And also we need to recognize the cane farmer himself has invested a little bit in trying to fight off the fusarium.”

 

A key change this year is a stronger push toward crop diversification, with farmers and the government investing in more resilient cane varieties that produce higher sugar yields. Prime Minister John Briceno shares his commitment to industry’s success.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Talking is cheap . It’s about the actions and what you do. The first thing I did was to put the Ministry of Sugar on the, under my responsibility to be able to demonstrate whole serious we about this industry. And then had Dr. Osmond Martinez as a minister of State, to be able to deal on a daily basis on some of the issues to be able. Then immediately I took on the commission of inquiry report. And said, okay, let’s work with the farmers and the association and the, and BSI to be able to come up with a plan. They come up with a plan which cost for one hundred and twenty million investment. So an investment are going to be over time. We, when we were informed about the serious challenge about fusarium we immediately found three million to be able to invest. And that by doing that, instead of the sugar industry continued to productivity go on. It has increased and we expect that we are going to reach the one million ton.”

 

In 2024, Belize set a record sugar cane price at ninety dollars and ninety-five cents per ton. This took a sharp decline the following year. Salvador Martin, Chairperson of the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association explains that farmers have been hard at work amidst the challenges to get by, but he remains positive that the industry will begin to see positive trends soon.

 

On the Phone: Salvador Martin, Chairperson, BSCFA

“We are starting with the initiative that BSI send us, the fifty-three zero three is the first estimate for status crop. But then we have a good feeling, like I said, they can look and they look positive. Look good. The testing is looking better than last year. We hope that with this year we have all the challenges we’re gonna expect with a better price this year. That is the feeling that we have. But we dunno until things happen at this moment. That is the sentiment that we have.”

 

Belizeans can also expect a sugar price increase this year, with the official announcement coming soon. Minister of State Dr. Osmond Martinez says the adjustment is vital for the industry’s recovery.

 

Dr. Osmond Martinez, Minister of State, Ministry of Economic Development

“That again will help to put more money within the pockets of the farmers, but also it will help in reducing contraband because when the price of sugar is lower on our neighboring countries such as Guatemala and Mexico, then we end up subsidizing that market. And our farmers are not making that. It’s not like their operational cost is higher than the selling price. It’s actually the contrary. They were at a deficit.”

 

Farmers are also encouraged to participate in individual testing, which allows them to assess the quality of the crop and receive rewards for higher produce. Britney Gordon for News Five.