BSFIC to produce sugar from sugar beet

Monira Munni The state-run sugar corporation will produce sugar from sugar beet to meet the growing demand of the item in the country, officials said. Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) has recently launched a pilot project titled 'Development of sugar beet cultivation technology in Bangladesh' to scrutinise the potentiality of producing sugar from sugar beet, they said. Sugar beet is a plant, whose tuber contains highly concentrated sucrose, and it is grown commercially for sugar production. Producing sugar from sugar beet is a new idea in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, Ukraine has assured Bangladesh of providing technological assistance for producing sugar from sugar beet. Ukrainian Ambassador to Bangladesh Oleksandr D Shevchenko gave the assurance when he met Industries Minister Dilip Barua at his office in the city Thursday. "This is the first initiative to find out an alternative source of sugar production along with traditional sugarcane processing," BSFIC chairman Mahbubul Haque Bhuiyan told the FE. According to the proposal of Ministry of Agriculture, Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute (BSRI), Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), and BSFIC have been engaged for the research on sugar beet cultivation. A MoU (memorandum of understanding) has also been signed with the three organisations to run the project, he added. India and Pakistan produce sugar from sugar beet, the BSFIC chief said, adding that the state-owned sugar mills have already started plantation of sugar beet. Along with sugarcane sugar beet can be used as a raw material for producing sugar in Bangladesh that would be commercially viable also, a senior official of Ministry of Industries (MoI) said. "Bangladesh has huge potentiality for sugar beet cultivation. It can take the local production of sugar to a satisfactory level." Sugar beet amounts for at least 30 per cent of the world's total sugar production. The local mills can produce a significant quantity of sugar from sugar beet by setting up some additional equipment, he also said. The sugar content in sugar beet is approximately 30 per cent more than that in sugarcane, and the production cost of sugar beet is also lesser than that of sugarcane. Sugarcane takes almost a year to mature, while sugar beet can be harvested within seven months only. Thus, the short cycle of sugar beet helps the farmers to use their land twice a year. Sugar beet is also used for production of syrup, spirit, bio-fuel and livestock feed, he added. Bangladesh depends much on imported sugar to meet its annual demand of 1.4 million tonnes, of which the state-owned sugar mills can supply around 0.12 million tonnes only. Private sugar refineries are the major suppliers of the item in the local market.