Small-scale farming in Guyana

• Sugar cane


  A tall semi-perennial grass from which sugar is extracted
• Sugar cane


  • 2 to 6 meters tall
  • Stout jointed fibrous stalks rich in sucrose
  • Consists of 12% sucrose, 15% fiber, 70% water, 3% salts and organic compounds
• Sugar cane growth phases

  1. Germination phase

  2. Tillering and canopy development phase

  3. Grand growth phase

  4. Ripening and maturing phase
• Germination phase


  4 to 6 weeks after planting, involves activation and sprouting of vegetative buds
• Tillering and canopy development phase

  8 to 18 weeks after planting, involves formation of secondary sprouts from underground buds
• Grand growth phase


  20 to 38 weeks after planting, involves elongation of sugar cane
• Ripening and maturing phase

  42 to 50 weeks after planting, sugar synthesis and conversion of simple sugars to sucrose, requires sunshine
• Favorable environmental conditions and effective crop management strategies are required for each sugar cane growth phase to promote optimum productivity
• Tropical countries like the Caribbean have the environmental conditions suitable for sugar cane cultivation
• The Caribbean sugar industry has evolved, with sugar cane being less important compared to other industries like manufacturing and tourism in many territories
• Guyana is currently the largest producer of sugar cane in CARICOM
• Sugar estates in Guyana

  • Ogle estate
  • Wales estate
  • Lbi estate
  • Blairmont estate
  • Albion and Rose Hall estates
  • Skeldon estate
• Sugar estates in Guyana

  • Located along the narrow coastal strip of Guyana
  • Total land area of about 470 square kilometers
  • Largest estate is Albion with over 19,110 acres under cultivation
  • Individual fields are 4 to 7 hectares, empoldered and surrounded by canals
• Cambered beds


  Traditional layout created by the Dutch, inhibits use of in-field machinery
• Broad beds


  Layout introduced in 1970s to allow some mechanization, easier for harvesting
• Climate in Guyana


  • Tropical marine climate
  • Influenced by northeast trade winds
  • High temperatures with little variation
  • Two periods of heavy rainfall per year
  • Average annual rainfall 1,700 to 2,700 mm
• Guyana is not usually influenced by hurricanes as it lies south of the Atlantic hurricane belt
• Rivers in Guyana provide water for irrigation and fertile alluvial soils for sugar cane growth
• A system of dams, dykes, canals and pumps have been developed to protect the coastal strip from inundation
• Mechanization in Guyana's sugar industry

  • Not as extensive as in other places like Brazil
  • Efforts being made to invest more in technology like tilling machines, cane loaders, combine harvesters, drone technology
  • Slow speed of technology introduction, industry still largely dependent on manual labor
• Guyana's sugar industry faces brain drain, with young people having little interest in farming
• Labor is needed in the field for land preparation, planting, soil management, and harvesting
• Over 90% of Guyana's population lives in the coastal belt where the sugar estates are located, providing a ready supply of labor
• Ratoon cultivation


  1. Old roots left in ground from previous harvest used to produce new plants

  2. Repeated up to 4 times before field is tilled and replanted
• Flood fallowing


  1. Fields submerged in fresh water for 6-12 months after 2 plant and ratoon cycles

  2. Enhances soil physical properties, nitrogen availability, destroys weeds and pests
• Planting


  1. Done just before rainy season so plants have enough rain while growing

  2. Two planting periods per year
• Pests affecting sugar cane

  • Weeds, insects, rodents
  • Stem borers, frog hoppers
  • Biological control methods replacing chemical pesticides
• Irrigation


  1. Extensive canal system used to provide water during dry periods

  2. Flood waters pumped out during wet periods
• Fertilization


  1. Chemical fertilizers used to replenish depleted soil

  2. Organic fertilizers like cane trash, press mud also applied

  3. Aircrafts used to distribute fertilizers evenly
• Ripening


  Chemical ripeners applied as conditions in Guyana not conducive for natural ripening
• Harvesting


  1. Manual cutting and loading still common, some mechanical harvesting

  2. Fields usually burned before harvesting to facilitate cutting

  3. Harvested cane transported by punts along waterways
• Processing


  1. Cane juice extracted, impurities removed, juice crystallized to form sugar

  2. Molasses is a by-product
• Guyana's sugar is sold on different markets at different prices, but production costs exceed selling prices in all markets
• Guyana historically had preferential access to the UK and EU markets, but this has changed over time with market reforms
• Markets for Guyana's sugar

  • Bulk sugar to North America and Trinidad
  • Bagged sugar to CARICOM countries and domestic Guyanese market
  • Molasses to local rum distilleries and other Caribbean islands