Thursday, October 20, 2011

Sugar production expected to be around 390 000 tonnes


According to the Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture, the production of sugar would be around 390 000 tonnes for the crop year 2011.  This estimate is based on statistics for the sugar sector for the first semester of 2011.
In fact, economic indicators of Statistics Mauritius show that at the end of June 2011, around 3950 hectares under sugar cane were harvested, yielding 262 151 tonnes of cane and 24 132 tonnes of sugar.  The corresponding figures at the same period in 2010 were 4 800 hectares, 361 875 tonnes of cane and 33 815 tonnes of sugar respectively.  The average extraction rate as at June 2011 was 9.21% compared to 9.34% in the first semester of 2010.
Statistics Mauritius has also released figures on tea plantation, tobacco production, livestock and poultry for the first semester of 2011.  Regarding tea plantation, the area under cultivation in 2011 was the same as in 2010, that is 698 hectares.  The production of green tea leaves for the first semester of 2011 was 5 307 tonnes compared to 4 282 tonnes for the corresponding period of the preceding year.  Production of manufactured tea went up by 26.1%, from 835 tonnes in the first semester of 2010 to 1 053 tonnes in the same period of 2011.
The production of tobacco leaves went up from 98 tonnes in the first semester of 2010 to 124 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2011.  An area of 70 hectares was harvested during the first months of 2011 against 66 hectares for the same period in 2010.
During the first half of 2011, the production of beef from live cattle was 961 tonnes, which is 3.5% lower than the figure of 996 tonnes registered in the corresponding period of 2010.  Beef production from the slaughter of imported cattle, accounting for 91.2% of the total production, decreased by 7.2% from 944 tonnes to 876 tonnes.  Local beef production went up by 63.5% from 52 tonnes to 85 tonnes.  This increase is seen mainly as the result of different schemes put under the “Food Security Fund” of the Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security.
The production of goat meat and mutton went down by 10.8% from 37 tonnes during the first semester of 2010 to 33 tonnes for the same period of 2011.  The share of local production, inclusive of Rodrigues, stood at 81.8%.  This is mostly explained by a decrease in the production of meat obtained from slaughter of imported animals from 10 tonnes in the first semester of 2010 to 6 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2011.
The production of pork rose by 7.5% from 281 tonnes in the first semester of 2010 to 302 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2011.
The production of poultry expanded by 2.2%, from 22 500 tonnes in the first semester of 2010 to 23 000 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2011.

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