In Reunion, “without subsidies, sugar cane would already be dead”

Sitting on his microtractor, Olivier Mezino prunes the grass from his banana trees, near his 6 hectares of cane fields which overlook the wild coast of southern Reunion. But, soon, the landscape he encounters daily could change. This farmer, who has been living in Petite-Île for twenty-four years, plans to completely eliminate sugar cane from his farm, to make way for potatoes and more bananas. « It's much more profitable, confides the producer. I produce around 400 tonnes of cane per year. But, below 3000 tonnes, it is not viable. »

Between 2017 and 2019, with the liberalization of the market, sugar prices fell drastically. Until then, quotas and reference prices were set in Europe. At the same time, sugarcane production has increased sharply in countries like Brazil, intensifying international competition.

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