KARACHI, Sept 5: Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan has asked the sugar industry and farmers to optimize productivity and production of sugarcane and sugar. He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 40th annual convention and golden jubilee celebration of the Pakistan Society of Sugar Technologists (PSST) here on Monday.

The minister pointed out that Pakistan over the years had been able to produce adequate quantities of sugar to meet domestic requirements and in fact in some years had even produced exportable surpluses.

Of late, he went on, this situation had changed and this year “we have embarked on importing sugar to bridge the gap between demand and availability”.

Mr Bosan said the government had to take this measure in pursuance of its obligation to make available sufficient quantities of sugar for the consumers at reasonable prices.

He was of the view that the import of sugar in a country where there were 77 sugar mills with production capacity of 5.5 million tons of sugar per year held no comfort either for the government or the people involved across the value chain in the sugar industry.

The minister stated that sugarcane production during the preceding years had been adversely affected by water shortages but on balance with years of surplus production “we have always been able to tide over in years of short production”.

“Pakistan has no acute shortage of labour nor do we lack the infrastructure, technical expertise or relevant knowledge,” Mr Bosan stressed and urged the PSST to look into the causes of shortfalls and come up with appropriate solutions to ensure achievements of objectives set for the sugar sector.

He said that country’s average per acre yield is between five and 50 tons per hectare — a figure much below the level of average world production.

On behalf of Minfal, the minister assured support in improving coordination in research and development and establishment of a sugar technology institute.

“The two players in the sugarcane production and processing chain need to sit together and analyze the situation and workout a viable solution to eliminate this exploitation of both the growers and sugar mills.”

PSST President Abdul Waheed Qureshi pointed out that Pakistan was now capable of producing 80 per cent of sugar mills machinery and equipment.

G-20 MEETING: Talkinig to APP after the inauguration, Mr Bosan said that a two-day meeting of G-20 developing countries was being convened in Islamabad later this week, which would be attended by a number of agriculture and commerce ministers.