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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 […]
Written on August 10, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Tate and Lyle Should be Paying for the Freight, Not Farmers says P.U.P.
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 […]
Written on August 10, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on B.S.I. Rep. Responds to Assertions Made by Jose Mai
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 […]
Written on July 27, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on Agriculture Ministers Across Central America Meet to Discuss Animal Health
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 […]
Written on July 27, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Local Farmers and Producers Onboard with SICA Agriculture Initiative
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 […]
Written on July 27, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on An Agriculture Survey to Determine the Number of Farmers and Their Produce
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 […]
Written on July 25, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Decade Old DoE Debt Continues to Haunt BGA
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 […]
Written on July 25, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Sugar Prices at an All Time Low Shake Up the Lifeblood of the North
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 […]
Written on July 25, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on B.S.I. Has Its Eyes on CARICOM to Open New Markets to Sell Sugar
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 […]
Written on July 24, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on Second Payment for Sugar Cane is Low; B.S.C.F.A. Says the Industry is in Crisis
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 […]
Written on July 16, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Auto Accidents,
Featured |
1 comment
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 […]
Written on July 9, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Minister Godwin Hulse on Santander: ‘The Offence is Not that Egregious.’
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 […]
Written on June 28, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Conch Season Coming to a Close
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 […]
Written on June 28, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Sugar Cane Crop Season Officially Closed
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 […]
Written on June 20, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
People & Places |
Comments Off on $22 Million DC Sugar Expansion Project Ahead of Schedule at B.S.I.
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 […]
Written on June 20, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Regional / International |
Comments Off on A.S.R./B.S.I. Wants to Tap into CARICOM Market
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 […]
Written on June 14, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on G.O.B. Rejects Santander’s Request to Sell Sugar Locally
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 […]
Written on June 12, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Environment,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Making Fishing Industry Gender Equitable
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 […]
Written on June 11, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Citrus Growers Share Experience
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 […]
Written on June 7, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Health |
Comments Off on Rabies Strikes Cattle in Agriculture Belt
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 […]
Written on June 6, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on Santander Faces Fine for EPZ Violations
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 […]
Written on June 6, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on Trade Minister Responds to CARICOM Sugar Call
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 […]
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 […]
Written on June 5, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture |
Comments Off on Corozal Producers Say Multinational Can’t Sell Sugar at Home
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 […]
Written on June 1, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
1 comment
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 […]
Written on June 1, 2018 | Posted in
Agriculture,
Featured |
Comments Off on G.O.B. Says They Will Adhere to Process
