Sugar Industry Gets Major Boost From Climate Agriculture Project

The sugar industry is receiving a boost through a climate-focused agricultural initiative aimed at improving crop health and productivity. On Friday, April 10, the Climate Resilient and Sustainable Agriculture Project, known as CRESAP, handed over a supply of biological agents to the Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute, SIRDI. The project is being implemented by the Belize Social Investment Fund in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and New Growth Industries and the Ministry of Economic Transformation.  The delivery marks the first of six batches of biological agents to be distributed under the project. The agents, which include Trichoderma harzianum, Bacillus subtilis, and Streptomyces lydicus, will be used to combat wilt disease in sugarcane, caused by Fusarium species, a persistent challenge affecting yields in northern Belize.  Officials say the biological agents are expected to improve root development, strengthen plant health, and reduce the impact of disease across sugarcane fields. The initial batch is valued at just over one hundred eighty-one thousand U.S. dollars.  The handover forms part of broader support being delivered through CRESAP. In October of last year, SIRDI received motorcycles to improve field operations, while more recently, IT and field equipment were provided to enhance data collection and decision-making within the sector.  CRESAP is a twenty-five million U.S. dollar initiative financed by the World Bank, aimed at strengthening agricultural productivity and building resilience to climate change. The project also supports farmers through a matching grant program and seeks to improve the capacity of key institutions to deliver sustainable agricultural solutions.