[Roorseprate]

Never will be Mechanized.....the machines cost much more than the labor.

Hmmmm... The only fields not using mechanized cutters are the independent fields that sell their crops to the mills! Central Romana and others have been using mechanized labor for over 6 years now...

But what you said is true to a part, the need for cheaper labor is there when it deals with the bottom line and profits by the pound. Why would they suddenly change thousand of years of labor exploitation VS Profits when they can get away with it?

They use the now non burned leaves by turning them into bio-mass to power the boilers that produce much of the energy used at the mills nowadays.

There are a lot of independently owned sugar cane fields in the DR!