Salvadoran Sugar farmers will plant an additional 8,000 acres of the plant between 2012 and 2013.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Between the harvest which will finish in April this year, and the next sowing in October, producers expect an increase in areas planted with sugar cane, said an industry executive.
The executive director of the Association of Sugarcane Growers (Procaña), Luis Trigueros, explained that they predict an extra 8,000 hectares planted by the end of the 2012/2013 harvest. Sugar cane is usually located on flat areas, on the coast and in the north.
For this harvest, growers are experiencing very good yields. Each hectare is yielding an average of 65 tons of cane, with some areas reaching 70 and others as low as 55. Such figures were not achieved since 2007, when yields averaged 61.36 tons per hectare.
The price of Salvadoran sugar for export follows international market trends. The price has remained above $20 per ton since 2010. Profits are divided into 55% for cane growers and 45% for the mills.
Sugarcane stands out in the agricultural sector for its growth in the amount of cultivated areas, mechanization of work, and the use of compost.
According to the Monthly Index of Economic Activity (MIEA) published by the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BNC), sugar cane was the item which excelled the most in the agricultural sector last August.
The yield increased from 62 to 75 tons per acre, which will enable 7 million quintals to be export from this 2011-2012 harvest .
In the previous harvest 2010-2011, agricultural output was 62 tons per acre planted, but an increase in productivity and the area planted, produced yields of 75 tons in the current harvest, said entrepreneurs.
On average 235 pounds of sugar per ton of sugarcane is yielded, the highest average in the isthmus, and sugar producers want to increase that number in the current harvest.
The national average is 235 pounds of sugar extracted per ton of cane and the next closest is that of Costa Rica, with 225 pounds. The lowest is Guatemala, with 213 pounds extracted, although they produce the most.