Several species of the genus Saccharum are used for the production of Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.), native to the warm temperate and tropical areas of Asia and New Guinea, but now grown in much larger ranges throughout the tropics.
As Sugarcane is tender to frost, it produces better in tropical climates where it can have long growing seasons and no rest periods.
An estimated 1.9 billion tons were produced in 2020, with 40% of that production coming from Brazil.
The stems are the part of this giant grass plant that are harvested for their content of sugar, which also contain water and fiber material called bagasse.
One Sugarcane plant consists of about 5-20 stems that reach 4-20 feet, and one ton of cane can produce around 115 kg of sugar.
Sugarcane accounts for about 80% of the global sugar production.
The bagasse is also used to produce electricity as a biomass material, with one of the highest bioconversion efficiencies.
Other products derived from sugarcane include falernum (sweet syrup), molasses, rum and cachaça.
With an estimated 27.8 million hectares in 121 countries, it is certainly a crop that affects large numbers of people. Yet, besides the bad effects of sugar on human health, it has a significant dark side from its sociopolitical history and present.
Early on, slaves were depended on for labor, and later after the slaves were liberated (after 1833 in the British Empire), many would no longer work on the plantations so indentured labor was sought from people of China, Portugal and India.
In Australia, South Pacific Islanders were brought to Queensland to work through slavery or very cheap wages, and then deported again in the early 1900’s under the White Australia Policy.
The human abuses continue, as in the past couple decades, more than 20,000 sugar cane workers along the Pacific coast have been estimated to have died due to working long hours in the heat without proper hydration.
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Photo by alexandre saraiva carniato