Even though the drought ended several months ago, the country's agro-productive sectors are still suffering the financial pain of approximately 50 million dollars in losses. And the direct impact of it on the sugar industry is that this year's start of the cane harvesting season, known as "La Zafra", has been pushed back by an entire month.
It was estimated that if the drought hadn't hit, the cane farmers of the north would have 1.3 million tonnes of cane to BSI/ASR for milling. But, the rain-starved crop has caused about 300 thousand tonnes of cane to be lost.
Today, BSR/ASR, the owners of the mills, hosted the press at one of the cane fields in Orange Walk to discuss what that loss will mean to the total earnings to the farmers:
The stakeholders will collectively decide in a few week's time if mid-January is a good time to start the cane season.
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