Sugar and bioethanol has a future in sugar beet

 

Experts inspecting flowering of Sugar beet





                        Sugar beet showing a root bulb, a source of sugar

 

10 July 2022

Most of us know that sugar comes from sugarcane, but few know that it also comes from sugar beet. I heard about sugar beet in early 1970s when I was told that Dr B A Lakhdive, retired agronomist of Dr Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola did his DAAD post-doctorate work on sugar beet at Goettingen in Germany. And that was the end of what I knew of sugar beet. It is only in last month that I got to see what sugar beet plants look like at Mukteshwar (Uttarakhand) where the ICAR’s Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research at Lucknow has an outpost to breed and develop seeds. Sugar beet cultivation is in infancy, despite best efforts of some farm scientists in the past few decades. Even our neighbour Pakistan grows it on about 1,014 hectares and produces 38,620 tons of beet annually. Dr Y S Nerkar, former VC of the MPKV Rahuri and ex-Director at Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Pune is one die-hard supporter of sugar beet who feels its prospects. Sugar beet needs to be tropicalized with suitable varieties in view of declining water availability in the sugarcane growing areas, and diversification of sources of sugar production. It could be grown during September in the flood affected areas or in the sugarcane belt where the soil is becoming more salty or acidic. Alternately, sugar beet will have better chances if the vegetable farmers grow it, as the sugarcane farmer is a class apart who may not easily give up what he is used to, says Dr C Dhareshwar, former Bayer employee and now AgriConsultant. Rana Mills of Punjab have grown it over 2500 hectares in 2010s, but farmers were reluctant in view of poor yields and prices, and inadequate experience of its cultivation; while the Mill found its poor sugar recovery. Sugar industry finds a great prospects of sugar beet growing. And hence, Vasantdada Sugar Institute at Pune in 2020s encouraged sugar beet production to extend the crushing period of sugar industry beyond Oct-mid-April, when sugar beet is ready for harvest, but success is eluding them too. However, favourable environment needs to be built up with more holistic approach by the Government to give impetus to sugar beet cultivation in view of recent changes in biofuel (bioethanol) policy. The Government intends to blend petrol with ethanol to the extent of 20% by 2030 for use as fuel in the motor vehicles. Sugar beet is a crop of 5-6 months over a period of September-end to March, produces about 30-75 tons of beet (white bulby root) per hectare. Sugar content varies from 10 to 22% in mature beet bulb. And almost all of sugar in Europe and one-fifth of the world’s sugar production comes from sugar beet. Besides, beet pulp like molasses from sugarcane is used for animal feed, being rich in nitrogen.

PS: Bioethanol production is an energy intensive process. While one expects synergy in the industrial level production of sugar from sugarcane and sugarbeet, with initial differences in processing; ethanol production may present different challenges. In Europe and Americas, ethanol production appears to economic depending upon the prices and level of automation.   

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