|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PARAGUAY:
Sweet Experiment
with Organic Sugar
Alejandro
Sciscioli*
ASUNCION, (Tierramérica) -
In 1994 a Paraguayan sugar
company moved to fill the
demands of niche markets abroad
for sugar produced without
agrochemicals. Eleven years
later, Paraguay is the world's
leading producer and exporter of
this organic product.
Since the timid beginnings of
Azucarera Censi & Pirotta in the
organic sugar business, a number
of other companies have followed
suit, and with it there has been
an increase in the number of
hectares of organic sugar
cultivated, tonnes produced,
workers hired and revenues
generated for this impoverished
South American nation.
Ironically, the pioneering sugar
company Censi & Pirotta has
returned to producing
conventional non-organic sugar,
but seven companies continue to
produce the organic version of
the sweet stuff, concentrated in
the heart of Paraguay's
sugarcane region, the
south-eastern department of
Guairá.
Paraguay was the first country
to engage in industrial-scale
organic sugar production. Then
came Cuba, Colombia and Brazil,
but the decline in international
sugar prices made the business
less attractive, prompting Cuba
and Colombia to abandon the
effort, and a sharp decline in
Brazil's organic sugar
production.
The organic sugar industry ''is
a way to compete on the
international markets against
the cheap sugar that Brazil
produces,'' said Raúl Hoeckle,
president of Azpa, Paraguay's
biggest sugar mill, and the
second company to turn to
organic production, in 1999.
The business remains
''tempting,'' despite the costs
and the international organic
certification requirements, he
told Tierramérica.
A tonne of organic sugar fetches
some 330 dollars on the
international market, while
conventionally produced sugar
sells for about 260 dollars a
tonne.
Furthermore, Hoeckle underscored
the importance of the
environmental benefits, and the
fact that cycle of sugarcane
harvesting and sugar production
requires a great number of
workers, ''which helps provide
employment to rural residents.''
In the first year of organic
sugar production, the total
output was 379 tonnes. Since
then there has been a sustained
increase (except 2001, a year of
droughts and freezes), reaching
40,000 tonnes in 2004,
translating into 20 million
dollars in exports.
For 2005, production is expected
to be 20 percent more than last
year, and export revenues to
reach 26 million dollars.
The organic sugar buyers'
requirements have increased year
by year. Today they demand
independent certifications of
compliance with the principles
of organic farming and with
production regulations.
Requirements vary from country
to country.
Azpa has 14 certifications of
different types, including the
U.S. QAI -- Quality Assurance
International -- for organic
products.
It also began a food security
programme based on the standards
of the American Institute of
Baking, which includes risk
analysis and critical point
control, best practices for
manufacturing and pest control.
The top buyers of Paraguay's
organic sugar are the United
States, Germany, Israel, Italy,
New Zealand, Spain, Australia,
Malaysia and Singapore.
According to a document from the
Paraguayan Sugar Centre, to
qualify for organic farming, the
land needs to be free of
chemical fertilisers,
herbicides, insecticides,
fungicides, growth regulators,
and other such substances for
three years.
Furthermore, a five-year history
of how the land has been used is
needed.
Cultivation practices are not
regulated, but the sector's
leaders advocate preserving
earthworms and other organisms
in the soil, and protecting the
richness of the soil in general.
Crop rotation is permitted as
long as no agrochemicals are
used, and although conventional
seeds are allowed, experts
recommend organically produced
seeds.
''From one well-managed hectare
can come 70,000 tonnes of
organic sugarcane -- the same as
one conventionally grown
hectare,'' Jorge Bonzi, an
agronomist specialising in sugar
production, said in a
Tierramérica interview.
Conventional sugar production
uses chemical fertilisers at the
moment of ploughing. Then, the
rows are covered and herbicides
are applied to prevent weed
growth, he explained.
For organic sugar, natural
fertiliser is used, such as
manure, as well as a by-product
from organic sugarcane
processing, known as 'torta de
filtro', or filter cake, Bonzi
said.
Weed control is done by hand, as
is the cutting of sugarcane for
transport to the mill. This is
where organic sugar production
has greater social value,
because of the great number of
workers needed, he added.
The average workforce is 6.5
people per hectare for a process
that lasts all year long, and
entails weeding, cutting,
cleaning up the leaves after
harvest, application of organic
fertiliser, among other duties.
Another aspect that Bonzi
underscored is that 90 percent
of the farmers are involved in
small independent rural
operations who later sell their
yields to the sugar mills. ''In
Brazil, in contrast, all organic
production belongs to the
companies.''
(* Alejandro Sciscioli is a
Tierramérica contributor.
Originally published Jun. 11 by
Latin American newspapers that
are part of the Tierramérica
network. Tierramérica is a
specialised news service
produced by IPS with the backing
of the United Nations
Development Programme and the
United Nations Environment
Programme.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
