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Tate and Lyle Should be Paying for the Freight, Not Farmers says P.U.P.

There seems to be a widening rift between cane farmers in the north and the millers, American Sugar Refinery/Belize Sugar Industry. It has to do with the cane price estimates and how it is being calculated. The contention between the two parties surrounds an eleven-million-dollar transportation cost of sugar/molasses at Free Alongside Ship. According to […]

B.S.I. Rep. Responds to Assertions Made by Jose Mai

This evening, the Cane Farmers Relations Manager for A.S.R./B.S.I., Olivia Avilez, stopped by News Five to clarify the miller’s position on the matter. She contends that the charge is much ado about nothing.   Olivia Avilez, Cane Farmers Relations Manager, B.S.I. “From the F.A.S. we still have to get that sugar to, in this case […]

Agriculture Ministers Across Central America Meet to Discuss Animal Health

Since assuming the pro tem presidency of the Central American Integration System at the end of June, the Government of Belize has taken up a number of responsibilities as it relates to regional economic and trade relations.  One area of mutual cooperation among SICA member states is agriculture.  Today at the Biltmore, ministers of agriculture […]

Local Farmers and Producers Onboard with SICA Agriculture Initiative

According to Hulse, Belize’s agro-productive sector is fully onboard with the SICA initiative. The visiting ministers were also given a tour of facilities in the Spanish Lookout and stopped in for a visit at the plant of the renowned pepper sauces in southern Belize.   Isani Cayetano “Does this have buy-in from other members of […]

An Agriculture Survey to Determine the Number of Farmers and Their Produce

A countrywide survey is being conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture to gather information on the number of farmers actively partaking in the agro-productive sector, as well as the crops each grower produces.  The purpose, says government, is to enter the data into a system where it can be retrieved by end users, as well […]

Decade Old DoE Debt Continues to Haunt BGA

There is legal trouble brewing in the banana belt.  News Five has confirmed that an outstanding debt, going back almost eleven and a half years, is owed to the Department of the Environment by the Banana Growers Association.  The BGA is led by General Manager Sam Mathias whom we attempted to get comment from earlier […]

Sugar Prices at an All Time Low Shake Up the Lifeblood of the North

The effects of the low second payment to farmers, is being felt across the north. On Tuesday, the Belize Cane Farmers Association said the payments throw the industry in crisis. Today, the Corozal Sugar Cane Producers Association, says that the lower than expected payment of forty-five dollars and forty-seven cents per ton of sugar, deals […]

B.S.I. Has Its Eyes on CARICOM to Open New Markets to Sell Sugar

According to B.S.I., the opening of new markets is key to the future of the industry. The company is providing about eleven to fifteen thousand tons of sugar to the domestic market, but the mill is producing one hundred and forty tons annually. So the global market share needs to be increased and ASR/B.S.I. has […]

Second Payment for Sugar Cane is Low; B.S.C.F.A. Says the Industry is in Crisis

The final price for sugar is in and the estimated value for the 2017-2018 crop is not sweet news for farmers who will be paid an estimated forty-five dollars and forty-seven cents per ton. That’s the figure released today by American Sugar Refinery/Belize Sugar Industry to the three cane farmers’ associations in the north. For […]

A Pilot Escapes Grave Injury After Crash Landing Crop Duster in More Tomorrow

There was a report of a downed aircraft this morning in the vicinity of More Tomorrow in the Cayo District.  On arrival at the scene of the crash, police discovered that it was a crop duster which was being used in the industrial spraying of rice fields in the area.  According to Assistant Commissioner of […]

Minister Godwin Hulse on Santander: ‘The Offence is Not that Egregious.’

In June, the multimillion-dollar international company, Santander was slapped with financial fines by the Export Processing Zone Committee. This was after it was discovered that Spanish company had been selling sugar in the local market without the proper authorization.  The discovery sent the three cane farmers association in the north into a frenzy.  The northern […]

Conch Season Coming to a Close

The conch season is closing from July first through to September thirtieth. During this period, anyone found in possession of the conch will be fined.  The Belize Fisheries Department says that, “Any person or establishment found in possession of conch during the closed season will be charged and prosecuted in a Court of Law in […]

Sugar Cane Crop Season Officially Closed

Up north, the sugar cane crop at A.S.R./B.S.I. is officially closed. In a release issued today, the millers say that the final sugar cane fields have been cut and the last cane laden trucks trickled on Wednesday, marking the end of the 2017 -2018 grinding season. Farmers were able to deliver all their cane and […]

$22 Million DC Sugar Expansion Project Ahead of Schedule at B.S.I.

A twenty-two-million-dollar project to expand and enhance production at the sugar mill at Tower Hill, Orange Walk is proceeding ahead of its schedule. The huge project was launched last year, but today the American Sugar Refinery/Belize Sugar Industries Limited invited the media to show that the expansion was well ahead. When completed, it is expected […]

A.S.R./B.S.I. Wants to Tap into CARICOM Market

According to Vice President of Industrial Relations at ASR/B.S.I., Mac MacLachlan, there are six different types of direct consumption sugars currently produced at the mills in Orange Walk. Now, while there is a reduction in sugar consumption in the European Union, there is an increased demand for direct consumption sugars that are not the refined […]

G.O.B. Rejects Santander’s Request to Sell Sugar Locally

There is sweet news for cane farmers who strongly fought against the Spanish multinational, Santander, for introducing white sugar into the local market. Tonight, there is a decision in respect of a request by Santander to sell some five thousand tons of white sugar and two thousand tons of molasses for local consumption.  The Export […]

Making Fishing Industry Gender Equitable

June is fisherfolk month and a number of activities are being held across the country to engage fishers on the state of the industry. Today, the Second Annual Women in Fisheries Forum was held in Belize City, under the theme “Working Towards Zero Hunger with Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries.”  The purpose of the forum is to […]

Citrus Growers Share Experience

One of the accredited organizations at today’s forum is the Citrus Growers Association.  Its Citrus Research and Education Institute’s plant pathology diagnostic lab is the first and only laboratory in Belize to receive ISO one-seventy accreditation for five tests. The CGA’s Henry Anderson shares how this accredited lab is critical not only to the work […]

Rabies Strikes Cattle in Agriculture Belt

The Belize Agricultural Health Authority says that paralytic rabies continues to affect cattle in the Cayo, Orange Walk and Belize Districts. The disease, which is transmitted by the vampire bat, can also put humans and domestic animals in the outbreak areas at risk. According to BAHA, a number of preventative and control measures are being […]

Santander Faces Fine for EPZ Violations

Santander will be fined – that’s what Minister Tracy Panton said today. For the past two weeks and the last time we spoke with Panton, it wasn’t clear if the company would be sanctioned for the violation of its Export Processing Zone license when it put sugar for sale on the domestic market. On May […]

Trade Minister Responds to CARICOM Sugar Call

And on the topic of sugar, Panton responded to statements made by Leader of the Opposition, John Briceño. On Tuesday, Briceño said G.O.B. should be doing more to export all Belizean sugar to CARICOM. According to Panton, Belize’s sugar has market access at duty free rates but what is lacking is market penetration.   Tracy […]

P.U.P. Urges Government to Help Santander Pursue other Sugar Markets

A decision is pending on whether the export processing zone status of Santander Sugar Limited will be amended to allow it to put part of its plantation sugar on the local market, where seven percent of the sales of A.S.R./B.S.I. is reserved. The northern cane farmers’ associations oppose the decision because of Santander’s status, which […]

Corozal Producers Say Multinational Can’t Sell Sugar at Home

The Corozal Sugar Cane Producers Association issued a three-page response to the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Commerce, as well as Santander Limited on the sale of sugar on the local market. According to the association, the decision taken by Santander to put sugar for sale on the local market without permit will, “undoubtedly lead […]

Northern Cane Farmers Mobilize over Sugar Waiver

The release of white sugar in the local market by the Spanish company, Santander, has thrown the local sugar industry into a tailspin. On May eleventh, it was first detected that through DV Distributors, the white sugar was retailing in stores in the Corozal, Orange Walk and Cayo Districts in violation of Santander’s Export Processing […]

G.O.B. Says They Will Adhere to Process

As far as it is known, no fines have been imposed on the Spanish company for violating the EPZ status despite warnings by the Ministry of Trade and Investment. So is the government being too soft on Santander by now considering a waiver to its current EPZ certificate? On Thursday, Minister Tracey Panton said that […]