FROME, Westmoreland — JOHN Gayle, the general manager at the State-run Frome Sugar factory has described the four-month long 2009/10 sugar crop which ended here yesterday, as "reasonable".

"It was a reasonable effort," he said, noting that the factory was severely impacted by the inclement weather which dogged the processing plant during the first few weeks of the crop.

During the season which began last December, Frome --the island's largest sugar processing plant -- produced roughly 41,000 tonnes of sugar from the milling of just over 483,000 tonnes of cane.

Prior to the start of the crop, the management of the factory had set a target of 42,000 tonnes of the sweetener from the crushing of 481,000 tonnes of canes.

Gayle argued that while the factory fell short of the projected sugar target, there were signs that the industry was moving in the right direction.

He noted that there was a tremendous improvement in the relationship between factory workers and management, and cane farmers are once again beginning to have confidence in the industry.

But chairman of the West End Cane Farmers Association, Lucius Jackson, said there was nothing spectacular about the crop.

"There is nothing to boast about... Frome is a factory that used to do 100,000 tonnes of sugar so doing 41,000 tonnes is not much of an achievement," he told the Observer West.

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