Lynne Wong's PhD thesis

1.4 TRENDS IN CANE QUALITY RECEIVED AT SUGAR MILLS
Wong Sak Hoi and Autrey (1997) examined average data for Mauritian sugar factory
performance from 1960 to 1996 and found that, with the advent of mechanical cane
loading in 1975, the increase in extraneous matter in cane has increased fibre % cane by 2
units, decreased sucrose % cane by 0.3 unit and boiling house recovery, which is defined
as the percentage of sucrose originally present in mixed juice that has passed into sugar, by
0.7 unit.
Cane quality has deteriorated to such an extent that, in a factory situated in the north of the
island, fibre % cane which averaged 14% in the pre-mechanization era of 1975 had
increased by 5 units in 1997, representing a 36% increase attributable to the increased
extraneous matter received (Wong Sak Hoi and Autrey, 1998). Surveys carried out over a
three-week period in 1998 showed that leafy trash received at the same factory averaged
15% of the cane loads and ranged from 7% to 30%.
This trend is a serious concern since factory performance will be badly affected.
While it is probably true that twenty years ago extraneous matter in cane consisted mainly
of dry trash, nowadays it is common practice to send green leaves and immature cane tops
with the cane.
In the following section, the previous examination of trends in cane quality from 1960 to
1996 carried out by Wong Sak Hoi and Autrey (1997) has been updated to 2004, with
particular attention paid to the period 1996 to 2004. Parameters such as fibre % cane and
sucrose % cane were examined to see whether the deteriorating trend in cane quality
received at the factories was maintained.
1.4.1 Trends in Mauritian cane quality
Four parameters were monitored in order to assess the trend in cane quality received at
Mauritian sugar factories and each of these will be discussed in turn.
Changes from 1960 to 2004 in island average data on fibre % cane, sucrose % cane and
sucrose/fibre ratio in cane are shown in Fig 1.6.
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