Muddy Fields Disrupt Sugar Production

Belize Sugar Industries (BSI) has temporarily halted sugar production for the 2024-2025 season due to ongoing challenges caused by heavy rainfall and poor road conditions. Since October, consistent rains have severely affected both the quality and quantity of sugarcane, which has made harvesting difficult.

BSI’s Communications Director, William Neal, told the media today, “We’ve been having rains since October, and that has made it extremely difficult in terms of the field conditions for farmers.” He added, “The amount of mud and the difficulty that farmers have to extract their cane makes it extremely difficult.” Williams stated that feeder roads to the fields have worsened, which has contributed to the strain in the delivery process.

He added that the situation at the factory is no better, as it struggles to handle the excess mud brought in with the cane. Neal said that “it’s not a good time to be harvesting” because the additional effort required to process poor-quality cane makes the operation unsustainable. “The cost in terms of what we’re spending to try and extract sugar from cane that has very poor quality at this juncture, simply because the rains have been so consistent, makes it just not viable for us to continue,” Williams said.