…proposes quinoa as viable alternative The direction that the global market is taking coupled with reports showing that the sugar industry has been burdening the local economy, are among factors which have left former Member of Parliament,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Stanley Ming,Kevin Love Jersey, convinced that the possibility of sugar reaping success no longer exists.Former MP,Stanley MingIn fact, Ming is suggesting that Guyana joins the race to become a producer of the South American “super food”, quinoa, and tap into the gluten-free market expected to be worth more than US$6billion by 2018.Ming’s position on the sugar industry is one that has been voiced by many critics and comes at a time when Guyana continues to produce sugar for much more than it sells on the world market.During a lunch-time lecture organised by the Guyana Press Association (GPA) yesterday at New Thriving, Ming said that understanding the concept would require examining the last 20 years of the sugar industry.“Every year, we hear from the government that they’re restructuring the Board of the Sugar Corporation… that they’re bringing in this person from this other country to fix the Skeldon plant. Every year is a new excuse.”He said that over the years,Tevin Coleman Falcons Jersey, the excuses being offered for the production and costs have shifted between being the estate and the weather.“Sugar all over the world is now being reduced by substitute sweeteners and the price that sugar is being sold for now in the world is less than our cost of production. There is no way we can bring the cost of production down to meet what is the world cost for sugar,” Ming lamented.Currently, GuySuSo is producing sugar on average of US$0.35 per pound but the world market price is about half of this. This is a clear indication that the company is losing big time.? The industry remains unsustainable in the current situation.To realistically compete with the rest of the world, Guyana must bring down its production costs to below US$0.20 per pound. GuySuCo’s officials have time and time again spoken about a turnaround for the fortunes of the industry.They hope to bring production prices to about US$0.27 per pound by 2017 but that would still not be enough since industry experts have forecast that sugar prices will remain depressed for some time.Neighbouring Brazil and Thailand have increased their output, helping to flood the world market.The former Member of Parliament yesterday said that he is of the belief that “we’re flogging a dead horse.”“What is happening in Guyana is that politicians think about what they need to do in the next four years to win the votes at elections.”Ming said that politicians seldom think of the long term future of any country. Rather, they focused on brain-washing the constituents. He added that the phenomenon is one experienced in other countries as well.The problem, however, does not end there. “In a lot of the countries like Guyana, if you can keep the masses of your people uneducated and undereducated you can play on their minds.”Ming said that he is not vying for public office. He said that to secure the future of Guyana there is a need “to start driving unity.”Suggesting an alternative, the businessman said that he recently discovered quinoa from reports by sections of the international media. He promoted the product as a “super food” which can be grown in any part of the world.He drew comparison to Taiwan which was once a sugar-producing state but has pulled out.“I’m saying like they would have done in Taiwan many years ago when they used to produce and export sugar which became non-viable in their vision. Taiwan doesn’t produce one pound of sugar anymore, they buy it.”He explained that that nation currently imports sugar and using the cane plots throughout the country they had agricultural scientists develop techniques, educate the people to develop better crops that are more valuable to the world market.Today, he explained, the farmers that were growing sugar now invest in crops like sweet peppers; an acre of which currently attracts US$10,000.An article headlined “Australia, US race to satisfy insatiable, and lucrative, quinoa appetite” featured in international media a few weeks ago spoke of the two countries racing to become mass producers of quinoa.Quinoa, the staple of Andean farmers for thousands of years, has reportedly taken health-conscious Western nations by storm. It sells for around $3,000 a tonne, compared to wheat which fetches under $300 a tonne.A glut in the market caused sugar prices to tumble to now US$350.Meanwhile, demand grew 300 percent between 2007 and 2012 for quinoa, data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization shows, as traditional suppliers Bolivia,?P