Originally Posted by skeldon_man:
Originally Posted by Mars:
Cane harvesters in other countries are powered by petroleum, ours by blood. It costs a lot more.
Mars, Guysuco has mechanical harvesters. Cane cutters area dying breed in Guyana. I remember when Bookers use to flood the sugar cane fields after a certain number of crops and leave the old cane roots etc. to rot for about like nine months. I am not sure if this is still true.
Skelly, that periodic controlled flooding system is called fallowing. It allows the fields to rest and recuperate so to speak. Sugar cane plants absorb the earth's nutrients quickly and hungrily. When the water is drained off the flooded fields, cane cutters get plenty hassar and patwa. At some point in the 1970s-1980s fallowing was cut down in favour of more fertilizers.