The Guyana Sugar Cor-poration says it is moving full speed ahead with converting fields for mechanised planting at the Albion Estate as it works towards profitability.
GuySuCo yesterday invited the media on a tour of the Albion backlands where abandoned cane fields which were once heavily forested are being converted to beds and replanted using mechanisation.
Andre Paul, Group Agri-culture Engineer, yesterday explained that mechanisation is aimed at reducing operating costs in the long term.
Pointing to the fields that are currently being converted at the Albion Estate, Paul explained initially the fields were narrow Dutch beds running two – three rods in width with the beds running from one cross canal to another. According to him, that was a “short run” with a centre drain at the middle referred to as a four foot in the sugar industry.
“Now these lands would have had some form of vegetation on them so the first activity is to clear the lands, you can do so by two means, the first one is to use a tractor with an implement that we refer to as a trash tray, it would rake all the vegetation out on the dams and they would burn it and remove it from the field, the next stage is that they have plowed and harrowed the land that will now create some looseness in the soil and will then shape the fields as we see going on here now.”
Attempts at mechanisation have had a long history in the industry with mixed results.
The plan which is being carried out is to make wider beds for the canes to be planted.
Paul said that a grader is being used to shape it, “after this would have been completed the next step is to till the soil and that is to create a seed bed that is conducive for” planting.
The project is being carried out by Japarts and there are 2,000 hectares at the location which are being converted.
Estate Manager, Yudhisthira Mana shared his excitement about the project yesterday explaining that in his entire career the work within the industry was being carried out by traditional means, however, with a 60% labour force now they have embarked to fill the 40% gap with mechanised planting.
“Having an exercise like this will definitely guarantee us a 20% replanting annually”, he also noted.
He stressed, that the mechanised planting is not to replace workers but rather to complement the working structure. “Because with (the) 60% turnout you have, the 40% will definitely be coming from here and more than that we can see ourselves with the 20% replanting programme which is the desire of GuySuCo.”
He said, that it was important to note that with the mechanised planting there will be a “wall of cane” given that the process is guaranteed, allowing them to “safely say that our replanting programme will be completed and all fields will be into production now and most importantly it’s to have the production increase within here.”
According to the estate manager, they are working towards a goal of producing in 2026 beyond 55,000 tonnes of sugar with the Albion Estate reaching its full potential.
Newer technology
Meanwhile, engineer, Italo Linhares De Araujo, who serves as the Japarts manager for the project, yesterday told Stabroek News that they are currently working 24 hours per day “bringing newer technology to Guyana with the machineries to help GuySuCo to finish the project” in the fastest possible manner.
He explained, that the project includes the “pre-paration of the land up to the collecting of the cane.”
According to him, they are currently completing 13.2 hectares per day.
Meanwhile, Ravindra Persaud, Head of GuySuCo’s Agri Research Centre, said that after the field is handed over to them they use cane plants from their commercial nursery which are monitored for pests and diseases “and we also look at the agronomic characteristic that they are straight canes to suit mechanization, we also look at the quality, in terms of quality we look at the bricks, we look at the amount of sugar in the cane and the purity and we also look at the yield potential of the variety.”
Touching on the planting project, which Persaud said has come directly from President Irfaan Ali, “if we realize this project by planting 5555 hectares per crop it will increase our production significantly, we will move our production on an upward trajectory and we will be able to lower cost.”
According to Persaud, the area where the work is being carried out was previously a “mini forest” as it was abandoned for years.
Explaining the mechanized planting, he said, “and what we have done we have partnership with the private sector, our main partner Japarts, now if you look at what we say there, the machine was marking, it was planting and it was covering at the said time so the estimated time it took to plant two rows was just three minutes and fifteen seconds.”
Stabroek News was told that the machine has the capacity to plant two hectares per hour, while manually it takes thirteen-man days to plant one hectare.
Persaud yesterday stressed that workers should not be afraid as the industry has need for “each and every labourer” adding that the project is just GuySuCo’s way of enhancing the “planting operation and ensuring that we have more canes going to the factory.”
