Fusarium Slashes Yields, Farmers Brace for Financial Blow  

Belize’s sugar industry suffered a deafening blow during the last crop season due to widespread fusarium infections. And the worst is not yet over. As we have reported, the low yield of sugarcane caused by the fungi led to a decrease in sugar production. And now, the figures are not looking good for farmers. They have seen a huge dip in the return on their investment, which will likely pose a financial hurdle for the next crop season.

 

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture

“We are not in a good position with sugarcane. I think this is the worst time in the history of the sugar industry. This year we are a hundred and sixty thousand tons less than last year. Hundred and sixty thousand ton is a huge drop. It is a drop of about fifteen percent. We are at twenty-four thousand tons less sugar than last year. We are thirty dollars less payment than last year. The payment last year was eighty-seven dollars, this year it is sixty dollars, more or less a thirty dollars drop in price. We are at revenue lost, compared to last year, sixty one million dollars. Of that the farmers share, the loss was forty-seven point nine million dollars. On top of that, we have fusarium. So the industry is in crisis.”