The Frome sugar factory in Westmoreland began sugar production last Wednesday, signalling the start of the 2006/07 sugar crop in which the country is expected to produce 160,000 tonnes of sugar overall.

The five state-owned sugar factories: Frome, Monymusk, Bernard Lodge, Long Pond and St. Thomas are expected to produce 109,000 tonnes - 10 per cent more than last year . The two privately owned sugar factories - Worthy Park and Appleton - are expected to produce the remaining 51,000 tonnes.

Juice quality

Agriculture and Lands Minister, Roger Clarke, said, "the determination is that we must do better than last year." He said the performance of the 2006/07 crop was dependent on the juice quality of the cane reaped.

"So the forecast for the coming crop would put us in the region of about 160,000 tonnes to 165,000 tonnes. Last year we did 147,000 tonnes," the minister told Farmers Weekly.

He said a number of management changes have been made as part of efforts to streamline sugar production in the state-owned factories. "We have looked at the estates in particular and we have sought to put local management in place for each estate and even while we are doing that we are still looking to get more expertise into the system," Mr. Clarke explained.

The crop is scheduled to end on July 16, 2007.

Individual factory production targets for the 2006/07 sugar crop:

Frome