In 2015 a team of people, including Cornelia Walker Bailey,William “Doc Bill” Thomas, Clemson University Professor Stephen Kresovich, Jerome Dixon, Maurice Bailey, Stanley Walker and others worked to establish Purple Ribbon Sugarcane on Sapelo Island.  For a host of reasons, this effort did not succeed as these sugarcane plants did not survive the summer.  In April of 2016, UGA Professor Nik Heynen was recruited by Cornelia Walker Bailey to try to establish SICARS sugarcane project again.  Heynen, working with folks from Clemson, students from UGA and Hog Hammock community members including Maurice Bailey and Stanley Walker planted 125 new row feet of Purple Ribbon sugarcane on a newly established plot on SICARS’ property.

Tags: purple ribbon sugarcane, Sapelo Island, SICARS, UGA