Sugar cane production problems in Nigeria and some Northern African countries.

Abstract

Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L.), the tall perennial grass from the family member of the grass family Gramineae, is the major sugar crop from which sugar is produced. Its bye-products have found use in industrial settings of medicine, pharmaceuticals, confectionery and beverages, electricity and motor fuels. The production of this wonderful crop in Nigeria and some Northern African countries is besieged with a number of problems ranging from biotic and abiotic to social and environmental. In spite of these, efforts have continued to be made by sugar cane growers and the governments of these nations with little or no tangible results in Nigeria and with excellent results in Northern African countries in terms of total hectares put to sugar cane production and availability of certification schemes to check excessive and uncontrolled expansion as well as the yield per hectare of millable cane and sugar yield. Common problems militating against increased sugar cane production in Nigeria and Northern African countries like requirement capital, lack of market outlay, biotic and abiotic stresses, high transport and production costs of hauling harvested sugar cane to the mills, low capacity building, lack of sugar cane growers and technologist associations, macro- and micro-environmental issues, lack of legal frameworks and lack of national and regional networking groups are highlighted in this paper. A general lack of political will to enforce stiff legislations on sugar imports is also discussed. Stakeholders in the sugar cane industry in these countries are called upon to initiate proactive measures that will surmount these problems in order to step up sugar cane production.