Sugar Production from Sugar Cane
Practical Action
bagasse-fired boilers it is possible to produce more electricity than is required by the factory. It
may be possible to sell this excess electricity to the grid or other users, generating another
source of income for the factory.
Transportation
Transport may be required to bring cane from the fields to the factory and also to take the
product to market. If motor vehicles are used then capital, maintenance and operating costs
must be added to the cost of the product. If animal powered transport is used then hire charges
and feed costs are also applicable. There may also be costs associated with the loss of the draft
animal to other duties.
Maintenance
Equipment cannot be operated effectively without proper maintenance and repair. Engines,
electric motors, crushers and permanently sited furnaces will all need routine maintenance if
they are to operate efficiently.
Crusher rollers will wear with time and require re-machining which necessitates access to a
workshop with a lathe. Usually, rolls can only be re-machined once after which they will be too
small for effective crushing. Therefore spare rolls or facilities for refacing old rolls will be
required. Other spares such as bearings and gears may also be required.
Therefore due consideration must be given to the provision of maintenance. Several options are
available to the factory:
provide its own spares
buy spares from local suppliers
import from outside the region or country.
Sugar cane
Suitable sugar cane must be available if a factory is to be efficiently operated. Because of local
conditions and circumstances it may not be possible to grow the best type of cane and so a
compromise will have to be made. It will be necessary to investigate what variety is grown locally
and assess its suitability for the type of processing undertaken (i.e. jaggery, khandsari, OPS, mini
VP etc). If the cane is not suitable, then further investigation will be required to identify a
suitable variety taking account of local growing conditions (i.e soil types, climate, watering,
fertilisers etc).
Investigatory work can be undertaken with local agricultural research centres or, if possible,
established sugar factories which will already have undertaken research into varieties suitable for
processing. After selecting a suitable variety it will be necessary to test it to ensure that it will
succeed under local conditions. However, introducing a new variety of cane into an area may
have a number of problems including:
Farming practises may have to change to enable the new cane type to be grown
successfully and on a sufficient scale.
Farmer may not wish to invest in a new variety of cane until a market is assured.
Chemical fertiliser may be required
Most medium-scale factories will require a set minimum amount of cane each day. Because of
the rapid rate of deterioration of the harvested cane, it must be used with twenty four hours. In
addition, the growing season may be shorter than the operational period of a factory and so
farmers may have to grow cane over a longer period to meet demand. Therefore it may be
necessary for farmers to change their farming practices to allow for a longer season and
staggered harvests.
In return the farmer will receive a guaranteed income per unit weight of cane from the factory
and can often claim part of the payment in advance. However, the factory retains quality control
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