Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha disclosed on Saturday that a number of outstanding achievements were recorded for 2023, with sugar in particular showing promising signs of recovery. During an end-of-year presser, Mustapha said the sugar industry’s total production for 2023 is 60, 204 metric tonnes, marking a 28 percent or 13,155 metric tonnes increase when compared to 47,049 metric tonnes in 2022.
The increase in production was credited to 52 percent more land being replanted this year, totaling 4020 hectares compared to 2640 hectares in 2022. For next year, the minister said there will be a heightened focus on mechanization across the industry. To this end, he said, “…we will convert over 5000 hectares of land over the next two years so we can facilitate mechanical harvesting and loading.”
Packaged sugar also saw an uptick in production. In this regard Mustapha said, “We have seen that a further 54 percent of sugar production was marketed as bagged or packaged sugar in 2023 as compared to 48 percent in 2022. We will continue along this trajectory aggressively.”
He added, “We have also commenced the construction of the Albion and Blairmont packaging plant to increase the production of value added packaged sugar and we have launched two new packaged brands: the Albion gem and the Demerara Gold Sugar stick sachet.”
In keeping with government’s 2020 manifesto promises, Mustapha said one of the major achievements for the sugar sector has been the reopening of the Rose Hall estate on September 20, 2023. To date, production there has totaled 1,031 metric tonnes.
Confident in his vision for returning the sugar industry to its full strength, Mustapha was pleased to share that the sector’s reliance on the Treasury is declining. He noted that the sector received a total of $8.1 billion in funding for 2023. The minister said this represents a 22 percent decline in support when compared to 2022.
The industry’s revitalization has also led to significant employment opportunities, with 4,692 new jobs since Mustapha took office. The total workforce in the sugar sector now stands at 8,294, with expectations for further growth in 2024.
