Life of Guangzhou - Sugarcane Harvest in Guangdong Hit by Seasonal Laborer Shortage

Sugarcane cutting work is being hampered by a shortage in seasonal laborers in sugar-rich Zhanjiang City in southern China's Guangdong Province, Zhanjiang Agriculture Bureau officials told Interfax Monday.

Low pay has forced seasonal laborers away from farming and into factories, thus creating a shortfall in the number of laborers available for sugarcane cutting.

"Guangdong is one of the most developed manufacturing bases in China, and as a result, has a large number of factory jobs for local laborers.

Conversely, other sugarcane producing regions in China, like the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, are less affected by labor shortages," Tonglian Futures sugar analyst, Li Tiantian, told Interfax today.

"Although Zhanjiang's sugarcane cutter shortage is not very serious at the moment, it does negatively impact on local sugarcane crushing, as harvesting efforts cannot keep pace with local sugar mills' crushing operations," Li said.

Li said that some sugarcane planters have raised the salaries of seasonal laborers in an attempt to attract more workers and will not pass the costs onto crushing mills.

"In fact, seasonal labor shortages have occurred in the past as well," a local agriculture bureau official, who wished to remain anonymous, told Interfax.

Zhanjiang is one of China's largest sugar producing cities, producing a total of 1.09 million tons of sugar from sugarcane in the 2006/2007 season. China produced 11.99 million tons of sugar in the 2006/2007 season.

[More Guangdong News]