Sugar Beet a Supplement to Sugarcane for sugar production in Pakistan

The fact finding mission on sugar beet cultivation was organized by SMEDA in cooperation with Beet Tech project Germany from April 16 to May 10, 2007. The mission found that under the water shortage and land degradation circumstances, Pakistan will not be able to produce sufficient amount of sugar from sugar cane in the coming years. According to FAPRI projections (2008-2016), Pakistan will be importing about 1 million tonnes of sugar annually which will not only be a huge financial liability on the national exchequer but also an emerging threat to the sugar industry and related beneficiaries i.e. mainly farmers and indirect stake holders in the country.

Meeting the increasing demands of sugar in the country with less water will be an appropriate solution. Sugar beet can produce almost two times higher sugar yields per hectare with less water and other input resources in a short period (4-6 months) as compared to cane that needs 12-16 months. Sugar beet crop can provide a solution to these issues if the government along with the
sugar industry can set longer term objectives and make appropriate arrangements for the promotion of this crop.

The initial technical evolution shows that agronomy wise the crop can be grown as a winter crop both in lower Sindh and Punjab to be sown in October/November and harvested in March/April and May after the cane crushing is over. Sugar beet can fit well into the cropping pattern after the cotton and rice growing regions in Sindh and Punjab and both in the cotton and rice sowing areas. Initially it will compete with wheat and sun flower but in the longer run the areas which are not suitable for sugar cane production due to alkaline soils; beet will take that acreage due to its salt tolerance nature (up to 8.5 pH). The issue of heat stress is still there but can be avoided by starting early campaign in the month of March.

There is a possibility to decrease the degradation of beets by quick deliveries to the factory with in 24 hours through mechanical harvesting. It is possible if the mills make arrangements with the large growers and also start growing their own beet. There was a strong fear among the sugar industry about the requirement of extra source of energy to run beet campaign. The visited cane sugar mills in Sindh and Punjab all needed 50 to 60% steam on cane. Here is a big potential to save heat energy which means steam that means bagasse. But it is necessary to upgrade the mills. The evaporation station is to be enlarged, that needs more heating surface, the heaters and the boiling pans are switched to lower vapour pressure and temperature. It needs more investment and know-how.

The consultants proposed two scenarios when the steam consumption can be decreased to a level and sufficient bagasse can be saved that will be enough to run the beet campaign. The sugar beet processing although needs external source for energy but the costs incurred on getting it can be compensated through its by products which are beet pulp and molasses. There is a big market for sugar beet pulp in the country due to higher number of milking and meat herd. The beet pulp can be pressed and transported to the market. The energy is high in pulp as 60 to 70% of dry matter is non starch polysaccharides and 10% of dry matter is raw protein.

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