Sugarcane production to reach 5,1m tonnes
Financial Gazette 19/4/2018
Tabitha Mutenga Staff Reporter
SUGARCANE production is expected to reach 5,1 million tonnes in 2018 due to increased water harvest and high dam levels.
The water levels in the dams that supply irrigation water to sugarcane farms in the south eastern Lowveld are higher than the previous season’s. Manyuchi Dam as of March 13 was at 101 percent full, while Mutirikwi Dam and Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam are 48 percent and 74 percent full, implying that there is sufficient water for cane production.
“We expect the crop to rebound in 2018 with production of 5,1 million tonnes (4,9 million tonnes government). Major producers such as Hippo Valley are also expecting increased sugar production which also cements our forecast,” the March Zimbabwe Economic Review & Outlook has said.
Low dam levels during the 2016 drought affected sugarcane production in 2017 which marginally dropped to 4,350 million tonnes from 4,4 million tonnes the previous year. Sugarcane in Zimbabwe is mainly grown under full irrigation in the Lowveld areas.
“Expansion of capacity by Green Fuels also contributes to our optimistic forecasts. Green Fuels expects to increase its ethanol production to approximately 75 million litres this year. The company has planted additional cane to achieve its goal. Green Fuels is also in the process of planting an additional 1 500 hectares of sugarcane in order to increase production by a further 20 percent, to 90 million litres in 2019,” the report said.
About 80 percent of Zimbabwe’s sugarcane crop is produced by two large estates, namely, the Triangle Sugar Estate and Hippo Valley Estate. Private farmers including large scale farmers and newly resettled farmers, produce about 20 percent of the country’s sugarcane crop.
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