Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-11-20
REVIVE SUGAR
CANE GROWING
in india NOW
Cultivation in Cochin, on Mala-
bar Coast, Gets Encourage
ment From Government

Sugar cane cultivation In Cochin ON
the Malabar coast Is now said to be
reyiying, and the agricultural depart
ment OF that district proposes suit
ably to encourage extensive planting.
This is due to increased interest in
sugar production throughout India.
The amount of raw sugar produced
in Madras Presidency in the crop year
ended June, 1913, the latest for which
statistics are available. was 1856
long tons. Besides cane juice, raw
sugar is prepared in this country from
the juice OF the date tree (phoenix
sylyestris), the palmyra palm tree
(borassus habelliferl, and the COCO
nut palm tree (coeus nucifera). The
palmyra palm affords much Of the
sugar of South India, especially Tin
nevelly. II is one of the sources of
the substance known in Indian COM
merce as "jaggery." $50 a..
Southern India does not produce
nearly enough sugar for its own needs
and sugars from northern India are
consumed as well. The imports BY
sea to ports In Madras Presidency
from all countries in the fiscal year
ended March 81, 1913, were valued
at 81, 952.279, the bulQ of this sugar
being from lava.
Factories for making sugar from
cane Juice have not been invariably
successful In South India; In fact,
rather the contrary. Some years ago,
when the indigo business began to
decline, some of the planters built so
called modern sugar factories, but the
sites chosen proved not infrequently
to be unsuitable, the cane could not
be obtained in sufficient quantity, and
the factories were too far from the
railways.
Difficulty Of Establishing Sugar
Factories.
With regard to the difficulty of es-
tablishing sugar factories in India the
following appeared in Commerce, a
Calcutta. publication:
civilian Hume, sugar engineer ex-
pert to the government of India, in
the course of accommodation to the
international Sugar Journal, draws at
tention to one of the chief drawbacks
at present existing. In his opinion
improvement will be slow until some
alteration is made to enable the cul.
tivation Of the canes to be more con-
centrated than at present. The cane
is grown on scattered areas in little
patches of few acres, which makes
It very difficult to supply a factory
with anything more than 800 tons per
day. Very often, the cane is stale
wehh delivered ~ the slow-moving
bullock carts. The cultivators are ex-
tremely conservative and difficult to
handle. If the proprietors Of q fac
tory were TO buy the land the cult
vator cannot be moved II he holds oc-
cupancy rights, as is often the case.
Mr.. Hume has known cases where
advances have been made to the cul-
-tivator for the delivery of sugar cane
during the crushing season, when he
has retained the best of the canes for
making .gur" by the indigenous meth
DDS, and delivered the worst of poor
cane to the factory.
I'm short, as the law exists the fac
tory proprietors are dependent upon
the cultfvators If the latter refuse to
grow sugar, cane the factory proprie-
tors have no redress. This is undoubt-
eddy one strong reason why there are
SO few sugar factories In India. An
other reason is that many orthodox
Indians will pay more for sugar made
by the indigenous methods and refuse
to purchase that made In modern fac
tories. Still there is already some in
dication that the prejudice against
modern sugar is breaking down."