U.K. funds sugarcane viability study

And while cheaper diesel will not do much to make the sugar industry more viable, the British government will give the Sugar Industry Control Board forty-six thousand pounds to study ways to make the industry more profitable in the face of reduced sugar preferences from the European Union. The E.U. is Belize’s biggest customer for sugar and its reduced subsidies threaten to jeopardise the existence of what for over thirty years has been the nation’s biggest export. Among problems plaguing the industry are an inadequate delivery system, lack of good cane growing practices, and inefficiencies inherent in large numbers of small farms. While processor B.S.I. sees some salvation in the large scale production and sale of electricity from bagasse, it is yet to be seen if this will be sufficient to offset the impending price reduction on the European market.