What would we do without sugar? It would be an exaggeration to say that the world was going to stop, but many diets would have to be changed drastically with the sugar gone. Yes, today in most countries of the world, sugar consumption has become part of everyday life, making sugar production a global industry.
Millions of people, from Cuba to India and Brazil to Africa, grow and harvest sugar cane. In fact, sugar production was once the largest and most profitable in the world. It can be said that sugar cane shaped the world in a way that few other plants have.
Would you like to learn more about this extraordinary plant? Then visit us in an area of Queensland, Australia where sugar cane is grown. Although this region is only a modest sugar cane producer, its efficient cultivation and processing methods make it one of the world's largest exporters of raw sugar.
A visit to the land of sugar cane
The air is hot and humid. The tropical sun hits a field of ripe sugar cane. A large machine similar to a wheat harvester moves slowly through the large sugar cane crop, cutting the stalks during the harvesting process and placing the cut cane on a cart that moves next to it. The sugar juice soon seeps out of the cut pipe and a sweet, musty smell hangs in the air. The precious juice of this extraordinary herb began its journey from the country to the sugar bowl at your table.
Not so long ago, sugar cane was painstakingly hand-cut here in Australia, as is still the case in many countries that harvest sugar cane. Imagine the scene. The workers cut the stick by hand. A row of sweaty reed cutters crawl through the reeds. With almost military precision, the workers take groups of vertical canes with one arm and then toss them firmly to one side to reveal their common ground. Swish, chop! Swish, chop! With muscular movements, the workers cut the bars with machetes close to the ground. You set them aside in organized rows and move on to the next bank or group of cane. Globally, this situation is gradually changing as more and more countries are in the mechanization process.
The sugar cane country Australia mainly consists of an approximately 2,100 kilometer long coastal strip, which largely runs parallel to the famous Great Barrier Reef. (See the article "A Visit to the Great Barrier Reef" in the June 8, 1991 issue of Awake!) The year-round hot and humid climate allows sugar cane to thrive and around 6,500 producers live mainly on small family farms. that stretch along the coast like grapes on a vine.
After a long journey, we saw the sugar town of Bundaberg off the central Queensland coast in the distance. When we go down a small hill, we are greeted by an impressive panorama: As far as the eye can see, a sea of undulating pipe! And what a variety of colors! Different fields of sugar cane are in different stages of ripening, forming a patchwork mosaic in vibrant greens and golds with small chocolate brown spots in areas that were not cultivated this year or recently cleared.
July is the coolest month of the year and the harvest and milling season has only just begun. This lasts until December, with the harvest ripening in several stages. Now we can't wait to visit a sugar mill to see what happens to the harvested cane. However, it is recommended to learn about the sugar cane itself beforehand. We then decided to make our first stop at a sugar experiment station installed in the region. Here, scientists develop new types of sugar cane and conduct research on improving agriculture and sugar cane production.
Its origins and culture
At the sugar research station, a helpful agronomist is happy to teach us about sugar cane and explain how it is grown. Originally found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia and New Guinea, sugar cane is a giant in the grass family, which includes members as diverse as grasses, grains, and woody bamboo. All of these plants produce sugar in their leaves through photosynthesis. However, sugar cane is different because it does it in amazing amounts and then stores sugar as sweet juice in its fibrous stems.
The cultivation of sugar cane was well known in ancient India. There the scribes of the invading armies of Alexander the Great noticed in 327 BC That the inhabitants "chewed a wonderful cane that produced a kind of honey without the help of bees". As global exploration and development gained momentum in the 15th century, sugar cane production spread like wildfire. Today there are thousands of varieties of sugar cane and more than 80 countries contribute to an annual harvest of around one billion tons.
In most of the countries in the world, sowing is a labor-intensive process. The stalks of the ripe sugar cane are cut to a length of about 40 cm and planted in rows with a distance of 1.5 m. Each cut or set produces feces of around 8 to 12 cane stalks that mature over a period of 12 to 16 months. Walking through a dense field of ripe sugar cane can be a disruptive experience. The stems of the reeds and the dense foliage reach a height of 4 m. Is it possible that this whisper is just the wind, or maybe a snake or a rodent? Just in case, it might be time to retreat to the safety of the open field.
Research is being carried out to find ways to control sugarcane pests and diseases. Many of these efforts have been successful, but not all. For example, in 1935, authorities introduced the Hawaiian frog to north Queensland to eradicate the sugar cane beetle. Unfortunately, the cane toad preferred other healthy foods to cane beetles, reproduced heavily and became a major pest in northeast Australia.
Are you burning before the harvest?
Later, at nightfall, we watched with admiration as a local farmer set fire to his harvest of ripe sugar cane. In a matter of seconds, the small field turns into a large fire with flames rising into the night sky. Burning sugar cane removes unwanted leaves and other materials that can interfere with the harvesting and milling process. Recently, however, there has been an increasing tendency towards harvesting without spectacular pre-burning. This method is known as harvesting green sugar cane. Not only does it improve sugar production, but it also leaves a protective layer of mulch on the soil, which in turn is useful in combating soil erosion and weeds.
Although many countries where sugar cane is grown today are still harvested by hand, more and more countries are harvesting with giant cane cutters. These giants snake their way through tall pipe arms, cover and cut the stems, and then automatically cut them into small billets or pieces ready for processing in the factory. While a pipe cutter can harvest an average of 5 tons of sugar cane per day using the laborious manual cutting method, pipe cutters can easily process up to 300 tons per day. The fields can be cut each year for several years before sugar production declines and the crops need to be replaced.
After the cane is cut, quick handling is essential as the sugar from the harvested cane quickly deteriorates. To enable fast transport to the factories, around 4,100 kilometers of narrow-gauge railways serve the sugar cane growing areas in Queensland. The miniature locomotives driving in this direction are a colorful sight as they cross the field and carry dozens of sugarcane-filled wagons to the edge.
Through the factory
Visiting a sugar mill is an interesting experience. The first to greet the eyes are rows of pipe carts waiting to be emptied. Huge crushers and rollers spray the pipe and compress the fiber sugar broth. The remaining fiber or bagasse is dried and used as fuel to power the entire facility. The excess quantities are also sold to manufacturers of paper and building materials for use in their products.
The impurities are then removed from the sugar broth, leaving a clarified liquor. The collected contaminants, called sludge, are used in fertilizers. Another by-product, molasses, is used as a staple food or raw material in the distillation of rum and industrial alcohol. The versatility of sugar cane and the efficiency of the grinding process are certainly impressive.
Then the liquor is concentrated in syrup by boiling excess water and sown with small sugar crystals. These crystals reach the desired size. They are then removed from the mixture and dried. The result is brown raw sugar. Further refining transforms this raw sugar into the well-known refined white sugar that many find on their tables.
Perhaps your tea or coffee will get a little sweeter after this fascinating and informative tour of sugar cane land. If you have diabetes you may need to cut out sugar and possibly use a substitute.
We were certainly impressed by the versatility and ingenuity of whoever designed and cultivated this incredible plant, sugar cane, a true giant among herbs!
Good article on sugar cane keep it bro