And the quality of cane isn't the only thing being affected by the rains. two weeks ago in an interview with the minister of agriculture, he said that the wild Fusarium Fungus could cause a 30 % decrease in sugarcane production this year. According to Ortega they recently learned from the experts studying the disease that the heavy rains may be a contributing factor to the rapid spread of the fungus to the cane in the fields.
Alfredo Ortega, BSCFA Committee of Management
"Well in reality in Orange Walk it has not been so much like in Corozal, in Corozal I would say we have about, according to the information we gathered by the team that is out there working, is it's in the vicinity of about 40% being affected, everyone on a different level of problems they are facing. But in Orange Walk there is an amount also because we have seen that the fusarium is being spread almost all across. But there are fields that have not been infested as yet and so we are trying our best to see how we can reduce the problem that we have in regards to Fusarium. And what the scientists are telling us, or the experts are telling us is that the weather is a contributor to the infestation that we have, we are experiencing at this point with Fusarium. So we hope that we get the material needed and that is something we have been trying to do through the Sugar Industry Control Board to see if the Ministry of Agriculture with the government can assist the farmers in getting the necessary material for us to spray in our fields to reduce the problem we are facing with fusarium at this point in time."
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