According to Henderson, the industry is trying to manage the effects of the bacteria to ensure that farms put the strategic response in place. Stakeholders are working along with the Ministry of Agriculture to contain the bacteria. Alvin Henderson, President, Shrimp Growers Association “Well it is a bacteria…and this is unusual. Bacteria is a […]
There is a huge development in the shrimp industry, and amazingly it’s gone completely under the radar. Because of a widespread viral infection, the industry has lost tens of millions in the past weeks, and all farms countrywide have had to take steps to start all over again from scratch. The infection was transmitted by […]
In the sugar belt, cane farmers are extremely concerned about the first estimate which they are expected to receive per ton of sugar cane in the 2015/2016 crop. That price is being determined by the European Union which is the main export market for sugar from Belize. The estimated price of thirty-five dollars per ton […]
There is also another issue which is of concern to farmers, and it has to do with their quotas. Prior to the end of the last crop, the Sugar Industry Control Board had explored cutting quotas because they claimed that a survey conducted by Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute revealed that farmers did not […]
The 2015/2016 sugar crop is slated to start in the next fourteen days, but the news tonight is that while sugar prices on the world markets are good, prices in the European Union where Belize sells its sugar are not at its optimum. In fact, they have fallen considerably which means that locally, cane farmers […]
Earlier we told you about the low sugar prices that farmers will be paid for the new sugar crop. There is another issue that is bubbling. It involves the results of a survey held to determine an approximate tonnage of sugar cane left in fields across the Orange Walk and Corozal districts at the end of […]
Harvest for Kids is a fundraising program for Belize Camping Experience. Every year the program transports youths from Belize City to farms in Blue Creek for a firsthand experience on harvesting a variety of crops. The program has expanded to Orange Walk and Cayo and this year, two new produce have been added to the […]
In the banana belt in Big Creek down south, banana workers came out in the hundreds to protest last week’s termination of a contract between Irish-based Fyffes International and their former employer, Meridian Enterprise. Fyffes has announced that it was cutting off Meridian because of banana grower John Zabaneh, who was sanctioned under the Kingpin […]
A protest is planned for this Thursday at Independence Village in the south where over a thousand persons have lost their jobs in the banana industry. The protest comes on the heels of an article in the international press that Fyffes has stopped buying bananas from Meridian Farms in Belize because of its links to […]
In mid-August, News Five brought you the story of devastating losses suffered by farmers in southern Orange Walk – the result of a prolonged drought. Actually, the first we’d heard about a drought was when we did that story, and apparently the Ministry of Agriculture was caught by surprise as well. Since that story broke, […]
The drought was first reported as a crisis in August, and it has very perceptibly worsened. In fact, Mai today classified the drought as a disaster, and claims that just like any disaster there must be a government response. According to Mai, while G.O.B. cannot be held accountable for nature, it is completely culpable for […]
There are many challenges facing fisher folks, who depend on marine resources to earn a living. On Tuesday night, we featured part one of a series on the state of the fisheries industry. Tonight, in part two of the series, we look at the ways in which the Fisheries Department is assisting fishermen with an […]
British Honduras was built on logwood and mahogany trade. That colonial history was based on exploitation of natural resources and people. Though we have achieved independence, Belizeans still depend on the natural resources as a food source as well as an avenue for economic activity. Along the coast of the Jewel, many villagers contribute to […]
Farmers in the deepest South of the Orange Walk District are facing the grim reality of millions of dollars in losses. And it’s all because of an ongoing drought in that region of the country which is spelling the ruin of thousands of acres of corn and hundreds of acres of soybean. For one hundred […]
The sugar crop got off to a rocky start but it is surely ending on a sweet note. This season, sugar production peaked to over one hundred and forty tones. The other good news is that there is also a record second payment which will have farmers fetch over twenty-one cents per ton of sugar […]
While cane farmers are enjoying the fruits of their labor for a bumper crop this season, come 2016 things will get a lot tougher, as sugar exported to the international market won’t be sold at preferential prices. It is a significant change that the Belize Sugar Cane Farmer Association is bracing for and projections for […]
The Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association has received the acceptance of their proposed corrective measures to non-compliances cited by Fairtrade auditors last month. Last year the largest cane-farmer’s association was cited for four major non-compliances, but this year the results of the audit are much more positive. Chairman of the B.S.C.F.A.’s Committee of Management Ezekiel […]
There is some measure of relief from the positive news coming out of Fairtrade. In December 2014, faced with terrible financial woes because of a crop delayed by hostile negotiations with ASR, farmers drew down on millions in Fairtrade monies already allocated for special projects. That move caused no end of concern for B.S.C.F.A. representatives […]
The Sugar Cane Season started on January twentieth and ended on July twelfth after it was extended to accommodate farmers who still had cane in the fields. But despite the extension, some farmers still experienced losses in what is being called a record sugar production crop season. Now, to get to where it is, the […]
And in other news from the sugar industry, McLachlan told the media today that the IDB will be funding a project that will assist cane farmers with technical support. Mac McLachlan, Vice-President, International Relations, ASR “I am delighted this week the IDB Board approved a technical support project to the industry which is fantastic […]
The Mediterranean Fruit Fly has been detected in two areas southern Belize. That’s the report today via a press release from the Belize Agricultural Health Authority, better known as BAHA. The pest, which can cause the country to lose its citrus, bananas and other fruits for export if it is not contained, was detected one […]
Following a request by all cane farmers associations for an extension of the 2015 crop, B.S.I. stated late last week that it would not consider extending the crop for a number of reasons including the increasing rains. But that position has changed, and this morning farmers got some good news at a hastily called press […]
The 2015 sugar cane crop, which started very late in January, will close next week Tuesday, July seventh at six pm. The opening was delayed by hostile negotiations between the B.S.C.F.A. and ASR/B.S.I. which at one point threatened to derail the crop season completely. With such a late start, and heavy rains already affecting the […]
Two weeks ago the Sugar Cane Production Committee made a decision to review cane-farmer quotas, which resulted in a cut in a majority of them. Already faced with the prospect of cane left standing in the fields because of the shortened season, the decision was unpopular, to put it mildly. The Sugar Industry Control Board […]
Santander is keeping the peace with Valley of Peace, well the farmers, at least. You may remember that over a year ago, Santander, then known as Green Tropics, destroyed close to half a million dollars worth of crops belonging to the Valley of Peace Farmer’s Association. It was after months of back and forth of […]
