GUYSUCO mulling 45 varieties of cane for organic sugar
Full certification expected from next year
By Miranda La Rose
Stabroek News
July 31, 2002
GUYSUCO is evaluating 45 varieties of sugarcane for its organic sugar venture and the project will come up for international notice in the Caribbean report for next month's sustainable development summit in South Africa.
The pursuit of organic sugarcane cultivation as a biodiversity- related economic opportunity was included in the Guyana report for incorporation into the Caribbean report to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
The report was presented by Head of the Department of Biology and Manager - Centre for the Study of Biological Diversity, Faculty of Natural Science of the University of Guyana, Phillip DaSilva, at the two-day Caribbean Biodiversity Capacity Building Workshop, which opened at the Hotel Tower on Monday.
Organic sugar and cocoa are among biodiversity-related opportunities now being recognised, pursued and promoted in Guyana as part of the country's efforts at sustainable development during the decade since the 1992 Rio Summit. On Saturday, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) began to harvest its first yield of organically grown sugar cane from its pilot project at the Uitvlugt/Leonora Sugar Estate, West Coast Demerara. It is the first time that organic sugarcane has been grown in the country and the Caribbean for the export market. It is expected that the current yield will be sold to a United Kingdom market.
In an overview, Uitvlugt Sugar Estate Farm Manager, Nicholas Duke, defined organic sugarcane farming as a system that is designed to produce agricultural products by the use of methods and substances that maintain the integrity of organic agricultural products until they reach the consumer.
On Saturday, senior staffers of the Uitvlugt Estate were upbeat about the crop being pioneered and which was cultivated on 123.8 hectares of land that had gone into a state of secondary vegetation. A number of workers were cleaning out punts to transport the canes from the field through a network of canals to the factories.
During a tour of the land under cultivation, Duke told Stabroek News that no chemical fertilisers were used in the planting to reaping stage and the process will remain pure through the manufacturing process. The harvesting of the organic crop also marks the start of the estate's harvesting season.
Duke said that the organic yield had to be harvested before the conventional crop or it would not be considered organic; and it had to be processed after the conventionally grown sugar which uses chemical fertilisers.
Approaching the canefields could be compared to going into a forested area. However, the canes have been planted behind that forested area. Duke explained that the vegetation was left intact to allow for the conservation of some of the area's biodiversity. The buffer zone, he said, allows for the flora and fauna to co-exist along with economic activity.
In addition, he said, the buffer acts as a protective curtain to guard against chemicals, which may have been used in the spraying of crops in the neighbouring standard canefields.
Organic farming does not only mean that chemical fertilisers must not be used in plant husbandry, he said, it means that the biodiversity of the area and the environment must be protected. Duke noted too, that in the cleaning of the canals and trenches, which are used for navigation, irrigation and drainage, the aquatic plant life has to be maintained. Cleaning is done in such a way to preserve aquatic life.
Workers told Stabroek News "fishing in the canefields" is now becoming a pastime. A variety of freshwater fish are found there. They include hassar, houri, patwa (a species of tilapia) and yarrow. They also said that the iguana was especially abundant in the buffer area along with some rodents that are eaten such as labba and acouri.
Instead of chemical fertilisers, GUYSUCO is experimenting with the cultivation of legumes along the rows of canes. When the plants die they will be ploughed back into the soil for fertilisers. A number of leguminous trees were also planted at the periphery of each field to enhance buffer zones and promote natural protection. Research has shown that the `leucaena leucocephala,' a leguminous tree and the `neem' bush were planted at the side of the canefields for natural protection. Research has shown that the leaves of the leguminous tree have a high concentration of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and the materials obtained from pruning will be used to aid soil fertility.
In addition, he said that GUYSUCO keeps a dairy herd nearby to provide dung for manure. Along the edge of the canefields, it was ob-served that heliconias were growing. Duke said that these were for "aesthetics".
In preparation for harvesting, workers on Saturday lit fires in what Duke termed "controlled burning" or "against the wind." In this way, he said that the fires will not sweep through the canefield and animals will be given a chance to move to the buffer zone. The organic canes, which look no different from the standard type, grow to about 16 to 18 feet.
The current crop will be harvested from a 123.8-hectare plot and is expected to yield some 500 tonnes of organic sugar. The success of the current yield has led to the announcement that it will be extended by another 200 hectares for the next crop.
At present, the estate is currently evaluating some 45 varieties of cane for organic production, in an evaluation plot just south where harvesting is taking place. They will be compared against a standard variety. Some 12 of the 45 varieties look very promising, Duke said. It is expected that by 2004 a new variety would be available.
This year the product will be called `organic sugar in conversion' to meet certification requirements. It is expected that from the year 2003, the product will have full organic sugar certification.
Giving a background to the project, Duke, dubbed `Mr Organic' by his colleagues, said that following Prince Charles' visit to Guyana in 2000, GUYSUCO, Chief Executive, Brian Webb, asked whether cane could be grown organically. When the idea was mooted, he said, staff in general were cooperative but initially there was some amount of scepticism about the outcome.
Duke holds a Masters Degree is Sustainable Agriculture from the University of London, which he gained on a GUYSUCO scholarship. He said that on September 11 that year, GUYSUCO began the pilot on 58.2 hectares of land that had been left fallow for 14 years.
During the clearing of the land, application for certification was made to the Soil Association Ltd and Organic Standards Organisation. With assistance of the British High Commission in Georgetown two visits were made by certifying agents to ensure the progress of the project to ensure conformity with the recommended standards of organic crop production.
The first crop was planted in November 2000 and cut in August 2001 and the ratoon left for regrowth. The cane tops were replanted to cover the 123.8 hectares.
Planting the crop organically meant that GUYSUCO did not use any inorganic fertilisers to increase or improve yields; weedicides to control weeds or agro-chemicals for the control of pests. GUYSUCO does not use agro-chemical control for pests, so that did not pose a problem for the company.
Duke said that it was clear from the inception weed control would pose the greatest challenge to the success of organic sugar cane production. However, at Uitvlugt this was achieved through mechanical inter-row cultivation, hand weeding and hoe moulding and mechanical brush cutting.
Brazil, the USA, Mauritius and the Philippines are already producing organic sugar. In Europe, beet sugar is being produced organically.