Dry areas of the Australian sugar canebelt along the Queensland coast have been receiving just enough
rain to sustain the 1987 crop, an Australian Sugar Producers
Association spokesman said.
    The industry is not as worried as it was two weeks ago, but
rainfall is still below normal and good soaking rains are
needed in some areas, notably in the Burdekin and Mackay
regions, he said from Brisbane.
    Elsewhere, in the far north and the far south of the state
and in northern New South Wales, the cane crop is looking very
good after heavy falls this month, he said.
    The spokesman said it is still too early to tell what
effect the dry weather will have on the size of the crop, which
is harvested from around June to December.
    He said frequent but light falls in the areas that are
short of moisture, such as Mackay, mean they really only need
about three days of the region's heavy tropical rains to
restore normal moisture to the cane.
    But rainfall in the next two or three weeks will be crucial
to the size of the crop in the dry areas, he said.
    "It's certainly not a disastrous crop at this stage but it
might be in a month without some good falls," he said.
 REUTER
