Good News for sugar cane in JAMAICA...."Holland is one of our four farms in St Elizabeth and one of the main farms within the J Wray & Nephew agriculture division."

BY AINSWORTH MORRIS Environment Watch writer  Wednesday, November 05, 2014    

KING sugar, the crop on which the economies of the former British West Indian colonies were built, looks set to rebound as a major contributor to Jamaica's agriculture industry.

Sweet Sugar Cane

That is, if the past four years of experimenting with a fertiliser treated with micronutrients is anything to go by.

Through a partnership with fertiliser producers Newport-Fersan, J Wray & Nephew, one of the island's premier rum distilleries, has been using the formula at its farm at Holland Sugar Estate in St Elizabeth and has reported a major increase in the yield and quality of the sugar cane.

Speaking at the recent Field Day hosted jointly by the two players, senior director of the agriculture division at J Wray & Nephew said with the dry disposable micronutrient powder supplied by Newport-Fersan Jamaica Limited, the company's sugar cane crop yield increased by 23 tonnes per hectare over the four years.

"Holland is one of our four farms in St Elizabeth and one of the main farms within the J Wray & Nephew agriculture division. Over the past four years, they have seen considerable improvements in the cane production at Holland, moving from 59 tonnes per hectare (annually) four years ago, to 82 tonnes per hectare for this year," Maxwell said. more