BELMOPAN, Belize, Oct 20, CMC – Agriculture Minister Rodwell Ferguson, says he expects results within six months as efforts continue to revive the Belize’s banana and citrus sectors that have recorded a near two-thirds decline between April and June this year.
Figures from the Statistical Institute show that banana production dropped by an estimated 15 per cent while sugarcane, on the other hand, increased.
Overall, Belize’s farming and natural resource output slipped about six per cent and Ferguson said that the citrus industry has been affected by greening for the last 10 to 12 years or more. “I worked in the industry all my life before politics. At one point, citrus reached eight million boxes per year. Every year there has been a steady decline until we reached 500,000 boxes in 2025.”
Fergusson said that he has been in communication with a person whom he did not identify in a bid to figure out how to develop a solution to treat the soil.
He said discussions have also taken place with the Caribbean Agricultural and Research Development Institute (CARDI) “where we did a sample area over a month ago to see how it will improve the sugar cane.
“ So far, with one month, we have seen some progress. Once that works, we are going to create a solution for both the citrus and sugar industries. He is committing to us that within six months we will see results in both citrus and sugar. That is in process as I speak.”
Fergusson said that in terms of banana, the industry has been affected by Sigatoka since the passage of Hurricane Greta in 1978.
“We are trying to figure out what we can do to reduce the amount of Sigatoka in bananas. I spoke to several universities. About a month and a half ago… I asked them how they can raise some money to send a team to look at the research for banana, citrus and sugar.
“Just last week we met with another university that also wants to help us find the cause and how to mitigate it,” he added.
CMC/ji/or/2026