JSE-listed specialised logistics and transportation company Cargo Carriers is currently running chopper harvesting operations for several clients in the Swaziland Sugar Industry, operations which offer significant environmental benefits. Not only are specialised harvesters being used in the harvesting process, but dedicated companies have been established to manage and operate this specialised fleet as a result of the high level of skills required.

Cargo Carriers Swaziland has been on operation for well over 40 years, and is the largest transporter of its kind in the region. A diversified range of services are offered by the company, including mechanical harvesting, manual cane cutting, infield loading and transport, direct deliveries to mills, and from loading zone to mills.

The chief strategic advantages in the use of Cargo Carriers’ chopper harvesting equipment lie in its environmental benefits, and the sustainability outcomes resulting from this chopper harvesting method.

The chopper harvesting method enabels cane growers to ‘greencut’ sugar cane, whithout having to burn the cane before harvesting it. This eliminates the negative environmental impact of burning the crops. The method also involves reprocessing the green tops of the cane to be packed into bales, which are then recycled as fuel to feed the boilers in the sugar mills, instead of using coal.

Chopper harvesting therefore represents a major advantage for the millers and growers in terms of reducing their carbon footprint and improving the impact of their operations on the environment.

Hundreds of thousands of tons of sugar can are being harvested per annum by Cargo Carriers for their clients, using this method. A reduction in the impact of cane harvesting on the environment, as well the opportunity to enhance sustainability by using material which would otherwise have simply been destroyed, is evidence of Cargo Carriers’ commitment to the enviroment, energy-saving and energy-efficiency. The company is investigating further such opportunities in the African sugar belt.