SUGAR-BEET, technically known as Beta Vulgaris L, grows in wild state in parts of Asia. It was a part of labourers’ food in Egypt as far back as 3000 BC. However, its commercial significance was realized only in the seventeenth century when it was found that the beet juice was chemically similar to the cane juice.

It was in 1879 when the first beet sugar factory/processing plant was established in California, which grew to 30 by 1900. Sugar-beet as a crop is a creation of plant breeding. It contributes about 16 per cent of the world sugar. It is a crop of temperate region, with Europe accounting for more than 2/3rd of the world area. However, genetic and agro-technological improvements have extended its scope to the subtropics where it is cultivated as an irrigated winter crop.

Production: Sugar-beet in Pakistan is mainly cultivated in the NWFP which has the most favourable climate. It accounts for more than 98 per cent of the area and 99.5 per cent production. Sindh is the only other province where it is cultivated on about 100 hectares. Due to the less favourable climate, besides other factors, yield obtained in Sindh (10 tons/ha) is about 1/3rd of the average 30 tons/ha yield in the NWFP. During the 2000-01 season, the area under cultivation in the NWFP was 7500 hectares and the production was 224,000 metric tonnes at an average yield of 29.9 tonnes/ha. In the NWFP, beet cultivation is concentrated in Mardan and Peshawar, with 64 per cent of area and 92.5 per cent production in Mardan alone. This is the only province where beet sugar is being produced commercially. It has the processing facilities since the mid sixties. There are at present 3 mills, namely Frontier, Khazana and Faran, producing beet sugar. During the 2000-01 season, these mills operated for a total of 112 days and processed 226,000 tonnes of sliced beet producing 12,276 tonnes sugar and 8,624 tonnes molasses.

Increasing demand: According to the Household Integrated Economic Survey carried out by the Federal Bureau of Statistics, in 1998-99, per capita consumption of sugar in the country was 15.84 kg/year. At this consumption rate, for a population of 137.51 million, sugar requirements come to 2.18 million tonnes. With 2.5 per cent population growth, coupled with the increasing consumption trend, the needs are expected to rise rapidly.

Main source: Cane is the main source of sugar production and the industry is entirely dependent on it. According to the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda), there are 75 mills in the country with an installed production capacity of 5 million tonnes sugar. However, as per the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, (PSMA) report for 2001, only 2.47 million tonnes sugar was produced from the sugar-cane, which is less than half the 5 million tonnes installed sugar production capacity. During the 1999-2000 season, the country had produced 2.41 million tonnes sugar, which is even less than the last year’s production.

Declining cane production: The decline in sugar-cane production has been due to the decline in the area and the yield. The fall in area was almost 17 per cent in two years, with reduction in yield for the 3rd consecutive year. As compared to the average yield of 50.3 tonnes/ha in 1997-98, the yield in 2000-01 was only 45.4 tonnes/ha — an almost 10 per cent decline.

In fact, not only yields are low (average 45.4 tonnes/ha), the recovery too, is poor with an average rate of 8.33 per cent in 1999-2000). At this yield and recovery rate, we need to double the area to provide enough cane to the mills to realize their installed production capacity of 5 million tonnes.

The reduction was due to the drought. The continued water shortage, which may get worse, does not allow room for expansion. The other alternative is to increase production by increasing the cane yield, or by improving its sucrose content, which may not come about in the immediate future. Under these circumstances, introduction of an alternate less water consuming crop like sugar-beet to supplement sugar-cane is an option one should consider, seriously.

Introduction in new areas: Sugar-cane is a high delta crop and is known as a water guzzler. In view of the persistent water shortage, the government is keen to replace sugar-cane with beet, where climate and other factors are favourable. It considers this replacement indispensable. A project to introduce sugar-beet cultivation in new areas has been included in the 10-year plan (2001-11), with an initial spending of Rs100 million.

Trials with sugar-beet cultivation in Sindh have produced encouraging results and the government is planning to introduce this crop in the coastal belt dividing Sindh/Balochistan on a large scale. Similarly, trials are also being conducted in some parts of Punjab.

Due to the on-going water shortage, there is a need to make changes in the cropping pattern. The industry is wholly dependent on the supply of sugar-cane, which is a high delta crop. The decline in area and production in the last two years has caused crises in the industry, wherein sugar-beet appears to be a logical choice for supplementing cane. It is a low delta crop with a water requirement of roughly 27 acre inches as compared to 45-80 acre inches for cane. It is also a short season crop, occupying land for only 4-5 months v/s 10-14 months for cane. Its sugar recovery rate is higher than that of cane, along with high tolerance for soil salinity and alkalinity.

The government appears determined for a change from cane to beet, but the millers, especially in Sindh are opposing it, mainly because they do not have the required beet processing facilities. An initial investment of Rs100 million is required for installing processing machinery to the existing units. They want the government to provide funds, besides, they are not sure of enough supply of sugar-beet. Similarly, the government can help the beet cultivating farmers by offering them a guaranteed price for their crop, and also help them in providing production loans from the ADBP. They should be assured of arrangements to lift their crop on harvest.

For the success of the project, the government should take sugar-cane millers into confidence. With the millers working against, the project may not achieve the desired success. The project should be implemented in stages, and in a planned manner.