THE SUGAR INDUSTRY

IMPORTANCE

• It belongs distinctly to twelve large scale industries by now well established in Pakistan
• Sugarcane directly provides employment to over 1,00000 workers.
• It is the second largest after the cotton textile industry within the large scale agro-
based manufacturing sub-sector in Pakistan.
• Besides sugar, sugar industry produces molasses, industrial alcohol and bagasse.
• It is the best suited by strategic placement in rural heart land to generate electricity,
reduce national load shedding, and energies the rural landmass by burning bagasse.
• More than 9 million of rural population are involved in sugarcane production
 PROCESSING OF SUGARCANE

• Harvesting – it is done manually in developing countries and mechanically in developed countries.

• Crushing – sugarcane is crushed to extract juice sugarcane starts losing weight as soon as it is cut. It should be
processed or crushed without delay.
• Refining – this is also called filtration, any scum that collects on the top is removed and the juice is passed through
a fine mash to remove impurities. It is then boiled and treated chemically and strained to refine the syrup.
• The syrup is boiled again till crystallization is achieved.
• Granular( crystallized) sugar is obtained through open pan and vacuum pan processes and by the centrifuge
method.
• The crystals are dried and packaged for distribution and sale
• The molasses are separated after the sugar is removed from the centrifuge. Sometimes molasses are reprocessed
to make second grade sugar.
 Sindh: thatta, badeen, nawabshah
Punjab: Rahimyarkhan, Faisalabad, Sargodha
KPK: Charsadha, Mardan, Peshawar.

LOCATIONS
 IMPORTANCE OF LOCATION
• Sugar mills are located near sugarcane fields as the juice of the harvested
sugarcane dries up within 16 hours of its harvesting. Thus sugarcane has to be
delivered quickly to the mills.
• Many sugar mills are located in Sindh and Punjab due to the following reasons:
• There are extensive sugarcane fields in Punjab due to the existence of climatic
conditions which favor the growth of sugarcane plantations.
• Sindh and Punjab have an excellent transportation system which ensures quick
delivery of the sugarcane to the mills.
 PRODUCTS OF SUGARCANE

JAGGERY (GUR) BROWN SUGAR

WHITE SUGAR
 BY-PRODUCTS OF SUGARCANE
• BAGASSES: used to make paper, chip board, animal feed, and also used
as a fuel to produce electricity to run machinery in sugar mills.
• MOLASSES: The lighter grades of molasses made from sugarcane are
edible and are used in baking and candy-making and to make rum.
Blackstrap and other low grades of cane molasses are used in mixed
animal feed and in the industrial production of vinegar, citric acid, and
other products.
 CHALLANGES
• Rapid increase in population
• increase in per capita consumption of sugar from 3kg in 1947 to 21. 2kg
in 2009.
• Fluctuation in yield from year to year because of weather, pests, and
diseases
• Low recovery of sugar from cane
• About 40 per cent of the sugar cane is crushed for making sugar, while
the rest is used to make gur and other products