The Factory Manager at Belize Sugar Industries Limited had announced that the 2011-2012 sugar crop closed last Thursday. It was an exceptional crop season; the production targets were exceeded and the farmers are looking forward to a handsome second payment. The quality of the sugar cane being milled also maintained high standards. But since the […]
Majority shares in the sugar factory are about to be acquired by American Sugar Refinery at a time when sugar has rebounded. The sugar crop has had a good season; production targets were exceeded, the quality of sugar is sound and farmers can expect to fetch a better price. But did you know that Belize […]
Ten days of rains has caused flooding in the Belize River Valley. Farms in a number of communities have been affected. In the Maskall Area, the farmers have lost most of their crops of fruits and vegetables. The damage to crop is extensive and our news team had to trek through mud and rely on […]
On Tuesday, it was officially announced that American Sugar Refining Company will be acquiring the eighty-one percent shares held by the employees of the Belize Sugar Industries. It is a major transaction involving sixty-two million US dollars which will be used to improve production, as well as for the settlement of outstanding debts with creditors, […]
The ownership of the Belize Sugar Industries is about to go to foreign hands. American Sugar Refinery, the world’s largest sugar refining company, is poised to seal a deal to acquire majority shares, in excess of eighty percent, in the financially beset B.S.I. This morning, representatives from ASR met with BSI’s management and employees at […]
Belizeans love their rice and beans, but half of that equation is getting a bad rap in the Caribbean. According to the Jamaica Observer, their government has seized another imported shipment of food deemed unfit for consumption. The article says, “Approximately twenty-two point seven-three metric tonnes of red kidney beans (red peas), valued at more […]
A mother of five has been named as this year’s Female farmer of the Year. The impressive woman hails from Bullet Tree, Cayo and keeps an extremely busy schedule. When she isn’t growing vegetables at her farm, she is selling her produce at the market. This impressive farmer also finds time in her packed day […]
The annual National Agriculture and Trade Show (NATS) will be held this year from April twenty-seventh to the twenty-ninth at the showground in Belmopan. Earlier this month, the NATS committee announced the theme for this year “Agriculture: creating greater business opportunities, a healthier population and a more robust economy”. And today, the winning Farmers of […]
In this region, Belizeans are one of the highest consumers of chicken. In fact, it is estimated that each person would consume between a hundred and five to a hundred and ten pounds of chicken meat per year. With that kind of statistics, a meeting of the Regional Technical Commission for Avian Health (CTRSA) took […]
There is a report tonight that a license has been issued for the importation of a huge amount of poultry. It has the Belize Poultry Association up in arms because of the health risks involved in the importation of the poultry from Mexico. The license was issued by the Belize Agricultural Health Authority to a […]
Leader of the Opposition Francis Fonseca met with rice farmers in the south on Wednesday to discuss a way forward for the struggling industry in the Toledo District. The sit-down, according to Dennis Usher, Chairman of the Toledo Rice, Beans, Corn Producers Association, came after months of failed attempts to engage the Barrow Administration in […]
In other news, there’s an outbreak of swine fever in pigs in Guatemala and the disease is inching closer to Belize. It is common among pigs and wild boar and causes fever, skin lesions, convulsions and death within fifteen days. The Belize Agriculture and Health Authority (BAHA) has been monitoring the situation in Guatemala and […]
In early December news of the collapse of the rice industry up north spread like wildfire across the country. Businesses in the Mennonite community of Blue Creek were on the verge of closing their doors permanently due to a slump in domestic sales caused by importation of rice into the local market. But following the […]
The Christmas weekend was busy not only for highway robbers but also those who prey on precious natural resources in protected areas as well as on crown land. The extraction of Rosewood continues unabated and despite numerous objections held by groups such as SATIIM and the Maya Leaders Alliance, poor villagers continue to cut down […]
The state of affairs within the beleaguered rice industry remains a hot button issue for farmers across the country who continue to suffer major financial losses on excess tonnage of grain presently held in storage around Blue Creek. At least one producer, Uncle John’s Rice, has been forced into closure. At the center of the […]
In the south, over a thousand five hundred rice growers are similarly irate because of a delay in final payment for their crop which was due on Thursday. According to Dennis Usher, chairman of the Toledo Rice, Beans & Corn Production Association, the Ministry of Agriculture and the BMDC have failed to live up to […]
In the past month we have reported on turmoil within the rice industry in the north. The soaring cost of local production and the lack of demand on the domestic market have driven several producers, including Uncle John’s Rice, to close their doors permanently. But while grain growers in Blue Creek are suffering from poor […]
We have been reporting on the woes of rice farmers, some of whom are now going out of business. Their sales have dipped by as much as fifty percent and the importation of Uruguayan rice has contributed to their financial losses. On Monday night, the Ministry of Agriculture reported that grain growers in Blue Creek […]
The rice industry is reeling from problem to problem. Blue Creek rice growers have experienced a huge drop in sales by as much as fifty percent and more recently imported rice from Uruguay added to their woes. Well, tonight there is another hurdle in the industry which has to do with a new tax for […]
The rice industry has been hit hard in the past three years. This year, growers in the south had to wait for months to finally be paid by the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation. In the south as well as in the north, silos are overflowing with the staple as sales dropped by as much […]
Allegations surfaced last week that the Belize Marketing and Development Cooperation (BMDC) was importing rice from Uruguay while there is a surplus of local rice. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries issued a release today to clarify the issue. It notes that the ministry granted an application for importation of nine hundred and sixty bags […]
And if you think institutional hiccups and misunderstandings are prevalent only in sports, then think again. Growers of the well-established citrus industry are still waiting to collect two and a half million dollars in payment from Citrus Products of Belize Limited (CPBL). Disagreements between the Citrus Growers Association and the CPBL have been extensively broadcasted, […]
Protection of fertile natural resources is not only to maintain stable ecosystems but also for supporting agricultural production. The sale of locally produced rice, according to several grain growers in the north, has seen a dramatic decrease since May of last year. It is rumored that the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation (BMDC) has been […]
There is a resolution in sight for citrus growers whose payments have been delayed by the Citrus Products of Belize Limited because a U.S two million dollar financing facility had not been drawn down. While the CPBL today says that for a second time during this crop they will not be able to make full […]
The newly elected executive of the Belize Workers Union whose membership owns majority shares in the financially embattled Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. is tonight at odds with the company‘s administration over what it considers a deliberate act of union busting. On November eleventh, B.S.I.’s management reportedly issued a letter to its employees, including three recently […]
