GuySuCo fields 41% mechanized; eyes 50% by year-end – Agri Minister

The government’s push to modernise the sugar industry is gaining momentum, with mechanisation now accounting for approximately 41 per cent of cultivation.
This cultivation is being backed by a whopping $13.4 billion allocation this year, the drive is aimed at restructuring operations, improving efficiency, and expanding mechanised farming to 50 per cent by year-end.
This was revealed by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha during a recent episode of the Starting Point podcast.
“So, we already mechanised 41% of the cultivations, and I am hoping that this year we can increase that to 50% and continue it. So as long as we mechanise the industry, I think we’ll have better harvesting. We’ll have better cane extraction coming out from the estate, and we’ll have a faster transportation system to the factory,” he said.
While diversification remains under consideration, Mustapha said Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) must first become competitive and profitable under its five-year strategic plan for 2025–2030.
“GuySuCo is important for the country,” he said, arguing that the industry supports not only workers but entire village economies.
Looking ahead, Mustapha said Guyana is positioning itself to once again become the food basket of the Caribbean within the next decade.
“Guyana will be… the main producer of food for the entire Caribbean,” he said, pointing to expanded production, regional partnerships, and digital integration as pillars of that vision.
Finance Minister Ashni Singh, in presenting the 2026 National Budget, outlined significant investments and plans to restore GuySuCo to financial viability and long-term sustainability. Addressing the National Assembly, Dr Singh highlighted that over the past five years, government efforts have focused on reviving the sugar industry, including reopening the Rose Hall Estate and upgrading infrastructure at the Albion, Blairmont, Rose Hall and Uitvlugt estates. These initiatives, he said, have revitalised rural economies and transformed the sector, which now employs more than 8,300 persons.
In 2025, the Albion packaging plant began operations, and essential machinery, including two mechanical harvesters, was procured to improve factory operations across the estates. Works were also undertaken to rehabilitate more than 100 cane punts, the Blairmont wharf, rotary sugar dryer drums, billet cane yards, and over five kilometres of access roads.
Efforts also continued to convert lands at Albion, Blairmont, Rose Hall and Uitvlugt for mechanised planting and harvesting. Looking ahead, the government plans to further mechanise field operations, enhance mechanical planting and harvesting, modernise factories, promote high-yielding cane varieties, and expand value-added production in partnership with the private sector.
Improving relations among workers, unions and management, and transitioning workers into higher-skilled roles, are also central to the strategy, which aims to transform GuySuCo into an agro-industrial hub for rural economic development.
For 2026, more than 3,000 hectares are targeted for conversion to mechanised harvesting. Planned investments include replacing three sugar boilers, procuring five cane harvesters, constructing a conveyor system for billet canes at Albion, installing additional sugar dryers at Rose Hall and Uitvlugt, expanding value-added production, and improving all-weather road access for cane transportation.