Little sweet news for sugar producers in China

Published on Feb 23, 2012

Farmer Li Xiuzhong points to a half-ripened sugarcane that he said would make up much of this year's harvest, in Ma'an mountain in Yunxian county, Lincang, Yunnan province. -- PHOTO: CHINA DAILY

LINCANG, Yunnan (CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - 'I can't expect any profit this year and I don't know what to do next year,' said Mr Li Xiuzhong, a 65-year-old sugarcane farmer in Lincang, South-west China's Yunnan province.

'We have 180 ha of sugarcane last year and actually the beginning of the growing season was good due to sufficient rainfall,' he said. 'But after June, things got worse so quickly and now there is no harvest in 30 ha.'

His expectations have also dropped from five tonnes of crops for each ha to three tonnes.

'These are already the best drought-resistant seeds and I have ploughed another 40 ha for next year, hoping to earn more money,' he said. 'But now, I have lost confidence in growing them under current weather conditions.'