The sugar industry in Pakistan – Past, Present and Future

Pakistan became an independent country in 1947. At that time the country had only two sugar mills which crushed 109,000 t of cane producing 8,059 t of sugar. The total area under sugarcane was 189,400 ha and this produced 5.529 mn t of sugarcane. The cane crushed was only 1.97% of the total cane produced The sugar industry in Pakistan has remained strictly regulated by the Government and the per capita consumption of white sugar was initially restricted to 10 kg/a. In 1977 the Government withdrew from the purchase and distribution of this commodity and the per capita consumption of sugar increased so that today this figure stands at 22 kg. At present there are 77 sugar factories in Pakistan and the largest factory crushes about 12,000 t of cane per day.