Need to develop gur industry

By Mohammed Arifeen

Gur industry has been in existence as a cottage industry for several years. It competed with the sugar industry up to 1985. The situation changed when all of a sudden the sugar industry started prospering and people started using white sugar on a massive scale and limited the use of gur. At present about 60 per cent of sugarcane is crushed in sugar mills for producing sugar, 25 per cent for making gur and the remaining 15 per cent is kept for seed, chewing and fodder.

Currently sugarcane is grown on an area of 1,029 thousand hectares of land with total cane production of 50.05 million tons. Its share in value added of agriculture and GDP are 3.4 and 0.7 per cent respectively. According to an estimate, around 2 million tons of gur is produced annually. Production of gur begins in October and continues till March of the next year. Gur is produced in Charsadda, Swabi and Malakand. The fine quality of gur is produced in Malakand. Mardan and Peshawar are hubs of gur trade. It is also exported to Afghanistan, Central Asian states and the Middle East.

The annual domestic consumption of sugar is 3.5 million tons and this is not enough to satisfy the requirement of the population of Pakistan, hence a large amount of hard earned foreign exchange earning is spent most of the time on the import of sugar from abroad. The gur sector can be a healthy addition to Pakistan’s depleting export earnings and can save precious foreign exchange. In this context, there is no harm in producing gur side by side with sugar in a judicious manner.

Gur is a whole and pure sugar. It is a condensed product of cane juice without separation of molasses and crystals and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color. Gur making plants are called gnees locally. The juice is obtained by crushing sugarcane in crushers and the Baggsse that is left is placed in the sun to dry and is used as fuel in furnace. Juice is boiled in caldrons and after ripening, it is poured into another pan. After a while, the gur is shaped into fist size lumps and then put into gunny bags.

Gur is rich in several important vitamins including potassium, magnesium and antioxidant. It is especially beneficial to people who are anemic, cannot eat or tolerate meat, suffering from frequent muscle cramp, tension, soreness, etc. Gur has a significant amount of zinc, manganese, calcium and phosphorous. The high potassium content in gur may help reduce bloating and water retention. The antioxidant in gur helps to support a healthy immune system and aging. It must be mentioned here that gur is still sugar; it may not be advisable for those with diabetics. Gur can help relieve many health problems. Some health and healing benefits of gur include treatment of cold and injuries, reduction of blood pressure, flatulence tension, headache or migraines.

There has never been a harmonious relationship between sugar growers and sugar mill owners for the last three years. Much harm has been done to this major sugar crop on one or another pretext by these respected parties. In 2007-08 the sugarcane cultivation was reduced due to farmers substituting from sugarcane to rice. Sugarcane production reduced to around 47.6 million tons. The sugarcane crop was extraordinary in the last year and the millers exploited by paying less than Rs50-60 per 40 kg, which led to the farmers substituting from sugarcane to rice crop. This year, the shortage of sugar has loomed 600,000 tons because of low production and high prices of sugarcane. The shortage of sugar is primarily due to less production, smuggling of gur to Afghanistan and banning of raw sugar import.

Fearing shortfall in sugar production, the PSMA had requested the government to allow the import of 400,000 tons of raw sugar through TCP for refining and supplying to market. They also demanded a ban on export of gur to ensure production of 50,000 tons of sugar in Peshawar, which could save consumers from less supply and price rise. The sugar mills in NWFP are gravely hit by the shortfall in sugar production. The Frontier Sugar Mills is already closed while Asia’s biggest Premier Sugar Mill is expected to be shut down. The millers have requested the government for a ban on export of gur and 15 per cent sales tax on the gur industry.       

A study was conducted at Sugarcane Research Institute AARI, Faisalabad during 2006-07 of six bright cane varieties (SPF-234, CPF-237, HSF-240, CP77-400, HSF242 & CPF243 ) and these were assessed for gur production, gur quality and sugar recovery. It was ascertained that variety CP77-400 performed better for gur production, while variety CPF-243 was better for sugar mills. The study also revealed that millers and growers can manifold their profits by adopting high quality cane varieties. High qualities and varieties should play a vital role in improving sugar mills recovery. It is necessary to take concrete immediate steps to increase supply of improved seeds among farmers in addition to government efforts.

On the basis of the AARL, it is recommended that gur industry should not be banned rather it should be hand in glove with the sugar industry. The industry should be developed on scientific lines. It will help not only improve economic and social conditions of poverty stricken farmers but considerable foreign exchange earning can be earned through exports to Iran, India, Afghanistan and Central Asian States through legal means, rather as previously it was vastly traded by smuggling.