-in bid to meet expanded Skeldon estate needs
By Shabna Ullah
At a meeting with private cane farmers on the Corentyne yesterday, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud said that $450M has been invested by the government to aid them and the National Cane Farmers’ Committee (NCFC) has been resuscitated.
The private farmers are expected to be key suppliers to the new $200M Skeldon sugar factory.
The minister, who noted that “it is the commitment and will of the government through Guysuco to support private cane farmers,” said that details of the committee resuscitation would be announced shortly.
Among the concerns that the farmers raised was the long wait to have loans approved. They also asked for systems to be put in place for the 12% interest rate to be reduced.
On the issue of the loans not being approved, Minister Persaud said government and Guysuco have assisted in “influencing the Republic Bank to consider loan applications and every help was given towards farmers’ business plans and loan applications.”
It has also assisted farmers in guarding their cultivation from stray animals.
The minister said the Skeldon estate is in the process of acquiring a fleet of machinery to develop the land for the farmers by “outsourcing, government intervention and loan from other estates.”
He said there has been a reduction in the mark-up for use of the estate’s machinery and equipment from 50% to 25% as well as the reduction of agrochemical and “seed-cane” costs – if they are supplied by Guysuco – from 30% to 50%.
The farmers were further told that they would have the amount for both charges recouped within two years.
Guysuco has provided drainage and irrigation facilities through its cultivation for farmers’ co-ops such as Leeds Pioneer and Johannesburg Cane Farms and has also inserted a “self-acting tube to keep tidal water out of the cultivation at Prasad’s Cane Farming.”
A Memorandum of Understanding has also been signed between Guysuco and cattle farmers to develop the Number 52-66 cattle pasture to facilitate the Cattle Farmers Association from that area as well as from the 67-74 Villages.Cane shortage
Concerns were raised late last year that as the Skeldon Sugar Modernization Project (SSMP) neared completion that the factory would not have the required amount of sugarcane immediately due to setbacks private farmers were experiencing.
Chairman of the Skeldon Estate Cane Farming Committee (SECFC), David Subnauth said in an interview with Stabroek News that the farmers’ hindrances range from the inadequate link canal and access dams to delays in acquiring loans from the banks.
He said, “Farmers were on the alert since 2000 that they would have to put their land to cane farming…” But, according to him “it is obvious that they had not catered for all the problems they are now faced with.”
The Chinese contracting company CNTIC Trading Co Ltd is working assiduously to complete the US$200M project in time for the extended deadline but government is concerned that the agricultural aspect was behind schedule.
At the commissioning of the Skeldon co-generation plant last December, Minister of Agriculture, Persaud had said that only 30% of the factory would be utilized at the outset as there had been setbacks to private farms due to rain and other issues.
The minister had said that there would not be sufficient sugarcane to supply the factory. He said in excess of 4,000 hectares of sugarcane would come from Guysuco and another 4,000 from the farmers.
According to him the “gaps and setbacks” have been addressed and that a new General Manager (GM), Vishnu Panday has been appointed “to accelerate” the agricultural aspect.
Former manager of the SECFC, Douglas Niles who was responsible for mobilizing the farmers to invest in the additional cane farms in 2000 is no longer attached to the Skeldon Estate and the new manager, Jaleel Ahmad who took over last November told Stabroek News he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Hurdle
This newspaper learnt that the inclement weather and lack of resources such as loans caused major delays. An official who wished not to be named had said that “all the decisions have been taken and there have been agreements from all sides for the field expansion to continue.”
He foresees a lot of progress this year when the “expansion would gain momentum.” He is also confident that “in three years time everything would be completed…”
The official said too that “the last hurdle which prevented the farmers from getting approval for their loans was that Guysuco was not agreeing to harvest their canes [with machines] for five years.”
But he said, management agreed to do so at a recent meeting “providing the farmers adhere to requests by Guysuco.”
Subnauth said farmers are pleased with the decision which was made “after strong representation by the committee.” He said Guysuco has requested that the farmers “come together and provide in-field equipment – like tractors, trailers and an elevator to remove the cane and we have no problem with that.”
He said Guysuco had initially planned to harvest the farmers’ cane for just one year and after that the farmers would have had to provide their own harvester. But he said “the loans are supposed to be for five years and if Guysuco does not harvest the cane for that period we would not be able to repay the bank because we cannot afford a harvester,” he said.
Subnauth however told SN he was disappointed to learn at a subsequent meeting that that the loans have still not been approved.
He pointed out that “the weather is right to do tillage but some of the farmers are not getting the money to do the work. If the farmers do not get through with the loans in time then they would not be able to provide Guysuco with the required amount of cane for the next five years.”
He was also concerned that the Lands & Survey Department (L&SD) “has been dragging its feet in transferring the leases and if the farmers don’t get the lease then they won’t get the go ahead from Guysuco to supply the cane.”
The committee is hoping to have a meeting with Persaud, the banks and L&S to have the issue resolved speedily.
He noted that “the committee is very pleased with the tremendous job that the new manager [Ahmad] has been doing. He is giving full support and assistance, especially to the new farmers.” He said the “views of the cane farmers are being transmitted to Guysuco through Ahmad in a very professional way; he documents everything…”
Link canal
Subnauth along with three other farmers had been supplying sugarcane to Guysuco from the inception but 14 individual farmers, cooperative societies (CS) and companies have also come on board and a total of 4,000 hectares of new land is being cultivated.
Most of the farmers have had to prepare “new forested land” while other farmers converted land that was used for cattle or rice farming into cane farms.
According to Subnauth, a major portion of the land is available to farmers in the Crabwood Creek area and they are “complaining bitterly” about problems with the recently completed “canals and access dam that link to the Skeldon estate.”
He said farmers are happy now that they can use tractors on the dams to pull the punts along the canals as “they were running at a loss to transport the cane on the public road.”
But, he said “the work was not done up to standard; some parts of the canal are high and some parts are low and that is causing flooding. Then the dam is too narrow and two tractors cannot pass at the same time.”
He said the problems with the link canal and the dam need to be corrected before the new factory is completed and that the additional work “could have been avoided if the farmers had a say [fully] with the design and construction.”
Subnauth pointed out that some members of one of the CS spent “millions of dollars to put their farm in order [develop] but because the expansion programme did not complete a portion of the access dam, they could not take the planting materials to the farm.”
He said over one year ago management had been promising to complete the dam but they have still not done so. “The entire area is already overgrown with vegetation and it would cost a lot more to prepare the land all over again.”
The chairman also said that some farmers have a problem with cattle destroying their crops. He said in spite of some farmers going through additional expenses to protect their farms by fencing the cows still managed to enter.
The farmers observed that “the cattle owners cut the fence to allow the cows to enter and destroy the crop.”
Meanwhile he said that with the additional farms under cultivation there is a demand for tractor operators and labourers but surprisingly these are “hard to find.” He said some of the private cane farmers had hired labourers from Albion and trained them to do the job.
They also provided free transportation for the workers daily and even paid a higher price than Guysuco. But, he said, apparently because of more benefits, the labourers would leave after working one crop and seek employment with the Skeldon estate.
He noted too that the expansion of the sugar industry has also resulted in a shortage of labour in the rice industry. Even though there would be fully mechanized harvesting when the project comes on stream there would still be need for labourers as the cane would have to be picked up manually.
