The project is set to be completed by December - which is also when the sugar can crop is supposed to start. But, there's additional anxiety this year, and that's because of the appearance of the fulsarium fungus on cane plantations in northern Belize.
Mai conceded that it will lead to a drastic reduction in cane yields:
Jose Mai, Area Rep, OW South
"We know it will lead to drastic reduction in sugarcane yields, and that's worrying because we have frog hopper to deal with, we have now the stem borer, and now we have this new disease in Belize. And so it's worrying to us, but I think that we are getting more information every day."
"We have consulted the Brazilians, they will be here shortly, I believe, to do an assessment and to give us advice on how to best manage the disease. In my view, climate change is the reason for this."
"The high temperatures in the soil, the high temperatures have just caused the fungus to become a pathogen, and so we have one more disease to deal with."
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