The Sugar Cane Industry

This book is a geography of the sugar cane industry from its origins to 1914. It describes its spread from India into the Mediterranean during medieval times, to the Americas and its subsequent diffusion to most parts of the tropics. It examines the changes in agricultural and manufacturing techniques over the centuries, and its impact in forming the multicultural societies of the tropical world.

A comprehensive discussion of the sugar cane industry and its history, written by a leading expert. First published in 1912.

From King Cane to the Last Sugar Mill focuses on the technological and scientific advances that allowed Hawai‘i’s sugar industry to become a world leader and Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S) to survive into the twenty-first century. The authors, both agricultural scientists, offer a detailed history of the industry and its contributions, balanced with discussion of the enormous societal and environmental changes due to its aggressive search for labor, land, and water. Sugarcane cultivation in Hawai‘i began with the arrival of Polynesian settlers, expanded into a commercial crop in the mid-1800s, and became a significant economic and political force by the end of the nineteenth century. Hawai‘i’s sugar industry entered the twentieth century heralding major improvements in sugarcane varieties, irrigation systems, fertilizer use, biological pest control, and the use of steam power for field and factory operations. By the 1920s, the industry was among the most technologically advanced in the world. Its expansion, however, was not without challenges. Hawai‘i’s annexation by the United States in 1898 invalidated the Kingdom’s contract labor laws, reduced the plantations’ hold on labor, and resulted in successful strikes by Japanese and Filipino workers. The industry survived the low sugar prices of the Great Depression and labor shortages of World War II by mechanizing to increase productivity. The 1950s and 1960s saw science-driven gains in output and profitability, but the following decades brought unprecedented economic pressures that reduced the number of plantations from twenty-seven in 1970 to only four in 2000. By 2011 only one plantation remained. Hawai‘i’s last surviving sugar mill, HC&S—with its large size, excellent water resources, and efficient irrigation and automated systems—remained generally profitable into the 2000s. Severe drought conditions, however, caused substantial operating losses in 2008 and 2009. Though profits rebounded, local interest groups have mounted legal challenges to HC&S’s historic water rights and the public health effects of preharvest burning. While the company has experimented with alternative harvesting methods to lessen environmental impacts, HC&S has yet to find those to be economically viable. As a result, the future of the last sugar company in Hawai‘i remains uncertain.

The cane plant is probably the most efficient utilizer of sun energy for food production, and at the same time provides an equivalent quantity of biomass. The purpose of this book is to set down the unique position of sugar cane in the cogeneration field. Simultaneous with the development of distance-transmission of electricity, sugar cane processors started cogeneration, making use of the cane plant to supply the power for its own processing, and in recent years excess power for export.A broad view of cogeneration in the cane industry, covering the energy available in a crop, the technology of processing for optimum recovery of energy as well as sugar is presented here. The book describes the most practicable processes for recovering energy in the form of process steam and electricity.Cogeneration in the Cane Sugar Industry should be of interest to a broad spectrum, including government agencies, biomass interests, power generators, public utilities as well as sugar producers and technologist.

This volume is intended for reference by the commercial sugar cane grower. Disciplines are covered for the successful production of a sugar cane crop. A number of good books exist on field practices related to the growing of sugar cane. Two examples are R.P. Humbert's The Growing of Sugar Cane and Alex G. Alexander's Sugarcane Physiology. Volumes of technical papers, produced regularly by the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, are also a source of reference. Perhaps foremost, local associations, such as the South African Sugar Technologists' Association, do excellent work in this regard. In my forty-five years of experience with the day-to-day problems of producing a satisfactory crop of sugar cane, deciding what should be done to produce such a crop was not straightforward. Although the literature dealing with specific subjects is extensive, I tried to consolidate some of the material to provide the man in the field with information, or an overview of the subject matter.

This book contains 8 chapters on the environmental impact of the cultivation and processing of sugarcane and sugarbeet. The chapters are entitled: (1) background; (2) overview; (3) water consumption; (4) impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystems; (5) impacts on terrestrial biodiversity; (6) impacts on soils; (7) atmospheric impacts; and (8) use and impacts of byproducts. This book will be of significant interest to policymakers, industry practitioners and researchers in sugar, crop, soil, water and environmental sciences.

Sugarcane Biorefinery, Technology and Perspectives provides the reader with a current view of the global scenario of sugarcane biorefinery, launching a new expectation on this important crop from a chemical, energy and sustainability point-of-view. The book explores the existing biorefinery platforms that can be used to convert sugarcane to new high value added products. It also addresses one of today's most controversial issues involving energy cane, in addition to the dilemma "sugar cane vs. food vs. the environment", adding even more value in a culture that is already a symbol of case study around the world. Focusing on the chemical composition of sugarcane, and the production and processes that optimize it for either agricultural or energy use, the book is designed to provide practical insights for current application and inspire the further exploration of options for balancing food and fuel demands. Presents the productive chain of sugarcane and its implications on food production and the environment Includes discussions on the evolution of the sustainable development of the sugar-energy sector Contextualizes and premises for the technological road mapping of energy-cane Provides information on new technologies in the sugar-energy sector

Some commodities command massive economic, social, and political influence. This title examines the business around sugar, a product with massive influence in the energy and food industries. It explores sugar's historical influence, its use in biofuels, and its place in the modern diet. Features include essential facts, a glossary, selected bibliography, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.