GuySuCo undertaking deep analysis to revamp sugar industry, cut costs, boost yield

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is undergoing a sweeping internal review of its entire operations, aimed at tackling persistent inefficiencies and repositioning the industry toward higher productivity and lower production costs.
According to Aslim Singh, General Secretary of the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers Union (GAWU), the review involves a comprehensive cost-centred-based approach, targeting key areas such as production, marketing, equipment management, field operations, and labour.
In a recent interview on the televised programme Guyana Dialogue, Singh disclosed that GuySuCo is already conducting in-depth evaluations of each component, from tillage and planting to cane transport and factory processing, to pinpoint areas for improved efficiency.
“The field operations, for instance, are made up of several, even greater, among the moving parts and the factory, and they have begun to analyse it, even at different planting, tillage, crop husbandry, cane transport, et cetera. In the field, in the factory, there are similar areas where they look at where efficiencies can be had and that sort of thing. So, there is, I think, an effort to look at what is taking place and how you can improve production and productivity,” Singh said.
The General Secretary explained that the central issue remains the high average cost of production, which continues to outpace world market sugar prices, highlighting that while GuySuCo has access to premium export markets where prices are higher, it still faces pressure to become more cost-competitive.
In this regard, he noted that GuySuCo is shifting toward value-added sugar products, including packaged and speciality sugars, which command higher prices.
“A lot of emphasis is being placed on packaged sugar. At Blairmont, that is being done. Of course, you may know at Enmore, there was a packaging plant established there. That unfortunately was closed when that estate was shut down in 2017. And efforts are now being made to have a packaging plant established at Albion to improve, one, the product offering and quality, but also to attract higher prices for the industry.”
“Of course, one of the major things in the field is the improved efficiency. Workers have gravitated towards semi-mechanisation. In the harvesting of canes, for instance, or in planting, there’s also full mechanisation taking place parallel to that. So, there is that taking place in an effort to improve the field output and field costs. Concomitant with that are some modifications required in the factories to handle mechanised types of cane, because they come with different conditions sometimes, depending on the weather we have here,” he explained.
Additionally, efforts are also intensifying to mechanise field operations, particularly in cane planting and harvesting. Semi-mechanised and fully mechanised techniques are being introduced, supported by drone technology for pesticide application and, potentially, fertilisation.
Moreover, the use of new cane varieties—developed in collaboration with international partners—is being prioritised to boost yield per hectare, rather than simply increasing the size of cultivated land.
GuySuCo produced 6,738 tonnes of sugar for its first crop of 2024, falling short of the initial target of 16,000 tonnes. In total, less than 50,000 tonnes of sugar were produced in 2024, with President Ali warning that heads will roll if GuySuCo’s 2025 first crop targets aren’t met. In total, the Government is projecting the production of over 100,000 tonnes of sugar for 2025.
Last year, some $15.5 billion was expended on support for the sugar industry, including the acquisition of six new cane harvesters, conversion of 2,734 hectares of land for mechanised cultivation and harvesting, and rehabilitation of critical revetment works.
In 2025, an additional 3,068 hectares of land will be converted to support mechanisation. Key investments will be made to acquire additional field equipment, rehabilitate field infrastructure, and construct over 17 kilometres (km) of all-weather roads across the industry.
For these efforts, some $13.3 billion was approved during the budget estimates – as part of the Agriculture Ministry’s $104.6 billion budget – to support and rehabilitate the sugar industry this year.