BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

The Barbados government is warning that unless the island restructures its sugar industry quickly, it could lose in excess of BD$100 million (US$50 million) in direct foreign exchange earnings over the next eight years.

The warning by Acting Minister of Agriculture, Tyrone Barker, linked the potential fallout to the revised European Union sugar quota system that sees a 36 per cent price cut over three years to Caricom sugar producers.

Sugar contributes some US$25 million annually to the Barbados economy.

Barker told a high-level workshop for the Cane Industry Research Project that Barbados could face severe financial losses if the industry was not restructured quickly.

Annotated land use policy

"The issue of an annotated land use policy can no longer be ignored," he said, adding that optimal results from the proposed model hinged on government's ability to ensure that at least 31,000 acres of land was available to guarantee raw material for a 25 to 30-year period.

Barker said there was the need for a legislative mandate for the "identification of a minimum number of land acres solely designated for agricultural activities."

To increase the lands under sugar cultivation, the ministry will be revamping its Cane Replanting Scheme, said the acting minister, and is looking at new policies to encourage farmers to return agricultural lands to production.