GuySuCo to ramp up production next year

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) should produce about 60,000 tonnes of sugar by the end of this year and with the government seeking help to boost the industry, President Dr. Irfaan Ali says production should increase significantly next year.

“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,” Dr. Ali said as he addressed the annual Enmore Martyrs’ Day ceremony at Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Ramping up production is attributed to a number of new developments including the reopening of 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 President Ali also pointed out that one of the substantial challenges gripping the sugar industry is the cultivation of sugarcane.

To remedy this, Guyana is engaging three foreign partners- India, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic- with the aim of getting scientific help needed to determine the most suitable variety of sugarcane for planting locally.

Those partners, he disclosed, may help Guyana set up a new plant nursery so that the most suitable varieties of the crop will be grown in large enough batches to satisfy local demands.

In the 2023 National Budget, GuySuCO got a $4 billion subvention to support expansion plans. In December, the Parliamentary Committee of Supply approved $1 billion in supplementary funding for GuySuCo to help with the retooling of sugar estates.

The Irfaan Ali-led government has made it clear that it will be investing heavily into the sugar industry as part of efforts to revive the sugar sector and make the industry lucrative once more.