The Cane commissioner claims that the sucrose content in local sugarcanes has gone down to 10pc from 12pc. This is strange as the average sucrose content is 14pc to 24pc and the government has been investing heavily in this sector. They’ve made promises to provide resources to help local famers make sugarcane, containing high content sucrose.
The low sucrose content would mean sugar manufactures will buy it for a lower price. This way the hardworking farmers will make a low income and the manufacturing companies will be paying lower taxes. As majority of the sugar mills are owned by prominent politicians, there is a high chance that the commissioner has not made a miscalculation.
In order to check whether it’s a lie or not - TV channels, local universities, laboratories and NGO’s can either work together or independently from the government. They can use resources from the laboratories, such as digital refractometers (which are also available in the market) to check the actual brix percentage in sugarcanes. If it’s lower than 15pc it will mean the quality of sugarcanes in Pakistan is bad, and they should not be harvested in the future. The findings can be reported to the Media, where the public will have access to it.
HUDAIBA FATIMA,
Karachi, June 24.