Following months of devastating floods, the Albion Estate is scheduled to begin grinding cane today and is also forging ahead with preparatory works for the first sugar crop of 2022.
With floodwater having completely receded from the cultivation for the first time since May, General Manager Threbhowan Shivprasad yesterday said GuySuCo is awaiting the land to attain an acceptable state of dryness before beginning tillage works. He said ploughing requires 32% of moisture on the land. Judging from the current moisture content on the land, he said within three weeks they should be able to commence the tilling works.
Water levels in the Canje Creek and main drainage canals remain low, a positive sign for cultivation and commencement of the planting exercise, he said.
He added that they are currently in the process of salvaging what is left from the mature cane following the floods. The General Manager pointed out that the second crop at the estate has finally commenced and they are preparing to start sugar production today.
“We were able to harvest some of the crop. We already burn the cane and we have a buildup so we are looking to start grinding tomorrow [today]” he stated.
The estate is aiming to produce 22,164 tonnes of sugar for this crop. Prior to the floods the estate was set a target of 33,000 tonnes but after evaluating the damage left behind by months of inundation, the figure had to be reduced. The crop season was scheduled to commence in mid-July but was pushed back to mid-August due to the weather conditions.
The extensive flooding had threatened at least 30% of the sugar cane which was being grown for the second crop cycle.
Due the flooding at the height of the first crop, production fell short of the target by at least 10,000 tonnes. The estate’s target for the first crop was set at 32,000.
Shivprasad had previously explained that with the lands being waterlogged for some time, the first crop for 2022 will be severely impacted. During the flooding, fields of young sugar cane were under water and not many have survived.
Stabroek News was told that even mature plants were dying and rotting as a result of the flood. A source told this newspaper that many of the sugar cane plants are no longer firmly rooted in the ground.
“People are saying the 2005 floods were major but when you look at the amount of water on the land in the Albion cultivation it is overwhelming. This situation is worse than 2005 because water is coming from the savannahs and behind the Canje creek and flowing into our lands. When you look at some places you have water levels between 5 to 7 feet deep,” GuySuCo Chief Executive Officer, Sasenarine Singh had said.
Previously, Shivprasad had explained that “All the water from the savannah is rushing down here to the residential lands now and we are seeing water in our cultivated lands. This is something we haven’t really seen.”
In a bid to save the crops during the floods, the estate management had deployed excavators to empolder the cultivated lands and vulnerable areas. They had also placed irrigation pumps at strategic points to discharge excess water.
The estate had installed mobile irrigation pumps at Ankerville, Nigg, Chesney and Babu John to facilitate faster drainage of water.
“All the water from Black Bush area and the Canje Creek area has been rushing into the cultivated cane fields because it has nowhere else to go. For weeks the Canje Creek has been overtopping because of excess water,” Shivprasad had said, explaining the flooding situation in the cultivated areas.
