1. The sugar industry is the oldest continually operating commerce in Jamaica
2. The industry generates the fourth largest foreign exchange earnings after remittances, tourism
and bauxite.
3. Since 1980 the
industry has brought
into the island US$100 million annually.
4. The first cane field in the island is believed to have been in Trelawny.
5. By the early 18th
century sugar was the chief economic crop of Jamaica and by the
middle of the century there were more than 400 sugar estates on
the island.
6. For awhile the island lead the world in sugar production and was England's richest colony.
7. The harvesting
of sugar cane in
Jamaica assisted the development of several ports in Britain - Bristol, Liverpool, and London, for example.
8. The industry began to decline in the early 19th century, hastened by the loss of slave labour and changes in British law.
9. Appleton Estate in
St. Elizabeth is reported to be one of the world's oldest makers of rum
a by-product of sugar. The estate dates back
to 1749.
10. The Jamaican sugar industry employs about 40,000 people.
Compiled by
Shelly Ann Thompson
