Sugar Cane field burning is carried out before harvesting to ensure and easier process an requires less manual labour. The field is set on fire, the leaves are burned off the stalks, removing about 80% of the “trash” including straw tops and green dry lea
Burning sugar cane fields Caymans estate Jamaica.
Burning sugar cane fields Jamaica. 2003.
Caymanas sugar estate Jamaica. A controlled burn is carried out before harvesting the cane. less manual labor is required through using this method. It takes place during the harvest season.When sugar cane is burned to remove the outer leaves around the stalks before harvesting, thousands of tons of hazardous pollutants are released into the air. An alternative to this method is the so called ‘Green Harvest’ where by through the use of mechanical harvesting machinery, the outer leaves are removed and left on the fields to create bio-mass trash material. This method is considered very expensive and reduces profits. Others argue that leaving the trash creates a risk of uncontrolled fires in the fields. In 2003 I had the opportunity of photographing the burning and harvesting of the sugarcane on the then Government owned Caymanas Estate. Using outdated equipment and sugar largely cut by hand in the searing heat, workers make up a substantial number of voters. So successive Jamaican governments have made every effort to keep the industry going. Today, the island economy relies mostly on agriculture and tourism industries. The sugar industry is the oldest continually operating industry in Jamaica, generating the third largest foreign exchange for the island.
Burning sugar cane fields Jamaica. 2003.
Caymanas sugar estate Jamaica. A controlled burn is carried out before harvesting the cane. less manual labor is required through using this method. It takes place during the harvest season.When sugar cane is burned to remove the outer leaves around the stalks before harvesting, thousands of tons of hazardous pollutants are released into the air. An alternative to this method is the so called ‘Green Harvest’ where by through the use of mechanical harvesting machinery, the outer leaves are removed and left on the fields to create bio-mass trash material. This method is considered very expensive and reduces profits. Others argue that leaving the trash creates a risk of uncontrolled fires in the fields. In 2003 I had the opportunity of photographing the burning and harvesting of the sugarcane on the then Government owned Caymanas Estate. Using outdated equipment and sugar largely cut by hand in the searing heat, workers make up a substantial number of voters. So successive Jamaican governments have made every effort to keep the industry going. Today, the island economy relies mostly on agriculture and tourism industries. The sugar industry is the oldest continually operating industry in Jamaica, generating the third largest foreign exchange for the island.
Workers Once all the sugar fields are set alight, workers leave the fields.
Sugar cane workers leaving the burning Sugar cane, as they prepare to harvest on the sugar cane fields of Caymanas Estate, St Catherine Jamaica. 2003
Sugar workers take a break.
Working Sugar Plantation
Ho se and kart are still used on Jamaican sugar estates
Working Sugar Plantation
Jamaican Sugar Worker,Caymanas Sugar Estate, St Catherine Jamaica
At its peak sugar cane estates in Jamaica employed 50,000 people. But a mixture of privatisation, and the end of EU quotas combined with closure of estates has hit the Jamaican sugar industry hard. In 2003 I had the opportunity of photographing the burning and harvesting of the sugar cane on the Government owned Caymanas Estate. Using outdated equipment and sugar largely cut by hand in the searing heat, workers make up a substantial number of voters. So successive Jamaican governments have made every effort to keep the industry going. Today, the island economy relies mostly on agriculture and tourism industries. The sugar industry is the oldest continually operating industry in Jamaica, generating the third largest foreign exchange for the island.
Sugar worker leaves fields on a childs bike
Working Sugar Plantation
Jamaican Sugar Worker,Caymanas Sugar Estate, St Catherine Jamaica
At its peak sugar cane estates in Jamaica employed 50,000 people. But a mixture of privatisation, and the end of EU quotas combined with closure of estates has hit the Jamaican sugar industry hard. In 2003 I had the opportunity of photographing the burning and harvesting of the sugar cane on the Government owned Caymanas Estate. Using outdated equipment and sugar largely cut by hand in the searing heat, workers make up a substantial number of voters. So successive Jamaican governments have made every effort to keep the industry going. Today, the island economy relies mostly on agriculture and tourism industries. The sugar industry is the oldest continually operating industry in Jamaica, generating the third largest foreign exchange for the island.