“and all of these machines are currently working.”According to Hanoman

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By Gary EleazarA mechanical cane harvester at workSome $450M has been spent on mechanical cane harvesters and it is expected that 2,675 hectares of the cane harvested at Skeldon will be done using this method.This is according to Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Sugar Corporation, Errol Hanoman.According to Hanoman six harvesters were bought for Skeldon at a cost of $75M each, “and all of these machines are currently working.”According to Hanoman, for this year more than 2,000 hectares at Skeldon will be harvested mechanically. “This is in addition to the 675 hectares that will be harvested for the farmers.He explained that at Skeldon there are two types of bed layout configured for mechanical harvesting.“There are the ridge and furrow layout and the Broad Camber English bed layout. Both of these are suitable for mechanical harvesting…However during periods of excessive rainfall the Broad camber English beds drain faster than the Ridge and furrow areas.”He added that most of the areas that will be expanded in the future at Skeldon will be configured to Broad Camber English Beds.Hanoman, in a recent interview with this newspaper, conceded that while there is a shortage of cane harvesters in the sugar industry, the magnitude of the problem varies from estate to estate.As it relates to the solution, namely the mechanisation of fields, Hanoman said that the conversion of fields to more machine friendly layout is in progress.According to Hanoman, all new fields, such as the Skeldon and Blairmont expansions, are designed for mechanisation.He noted, too, that the Skeldon development is expected to be completed by the end of next year and in the following year, the new factory will receive its full cane supply, to wit, 1.2 million tonnes.The corporation’s CEO said that all existing lands across the industry which are suitable for mechanisation will be converted by the end of 2014.He noted also that from 2015, onwards, 44 per cent of the total harvestable area will be capable of being harvested mechanically but the remaining 56 per cent, being Dutch Beds, will be cut manually but loaded by the mechanical cane loaders.The CEO also disclosed that it is intended that full manual cut and load will cease by the end of the 2014 crop season.