Minister Mai: Fusarium Battle May Take Another Year

Minister of Agriculture Jose Mai says the sugar industry may not see major improvements this year despite promising tests underway to combat the deadly fusarium fungus.

Mai confirmed that Belize’s current biological treatment trials could take up to a year to show significant results, which has raised concerns for next season’s sugar crop.

“The cure for bringing back the industry has to start now. We may not see results immediately this year, but next year we may start to see positive results.”

But he warned that the situation may be more serious than initially believed. Alongside fusarium, other pathogens may be threatening the country’s sugarcane.

“We are now informed that it is not only fusarium. It is accompanied by other pathogens. Nematodes could be one of them; we have sent samples for testing.”

Fusarium, which is believed to have originated from across the Mexican border, has now spread to several sugarcane fields in northern Belize. The disease has already cost the industry an estimated fifty million dollars this year.

Belize’s four sugarcane producers’ associations declared the industry’s current situation as a “critical and unprecedented crisis.” They called on the government of Belize in a joint resolution for “immediate and decisive intervention.”