Burning sugar cane fields Jamaica. 2003.   Caymanas sugar estate Jamaica. A controlled burn is carried out before harvesting the cane. less manual labor is required through using this method. It takes place during the harvest season.When sugar cane is burned to remove the outer leaves around the stalks before harvesting, thousands of tons of hazardous pollutants are released into the air. An alternative to this method is the so called ‘Green Harvest’ where by through the use of mechanical harvesting machinery, the outer leaves are removed and left on the fields to create bio-mass trash material. This method is considered very expensive and reduces profits. Others argue that leaving the trash creates a risk of uncontrolled fires in the fields. In 2003 I had the opportunity of photographing the burning and harvesting of the sugarcane on the then Government owned Caymanas Estate. Using outdated equipment and sugar largely cut by hand in the searing heat, workers make up a substantial number of voters. So successive Jamaican governments have made every effort to keep the industry going. Today, the island economy relies mostly on agriculture and tourism industries. The sugar industry is the oldest continually operating industry in Jamaica, generating the third largest foreign exchange for the island.