The epic History of sugarcane in Mauritius

Being a resident of Mauritius, sugarcane has been a large part of my childhood. In fact, my house was just in front of a vast sugarcane field and we would often go out to play there, eating sugarcane and having a great time. As the cultivation season comes in , you can have a road trip at night and just breathe in the amazing scent that the freshly cut sugarcane oozes. But as you might already know, the history of sugarcane goes way back in the past, so let's get started!!



In the year 1639, a dutch governor, Van Der Stel landed in Mauritius. He was the one who introduced the red sugarcane and various seeds and fruits including sugarcane saplings from Java. As his sailors and him were settling in the country, they tried to grow those crops but failed because of rats. After several attempts, in 1694, for the first time sugarcane, which is a grass and stores its sugar in the stems finally started growing in the island. Upon extraction, its massive amount of sugar could raise our blood sugar levels dangerously. 

-Red Sugarcane

Later in the 18th century (1700-1800) with the arrival of the french, governor 'Mahe de Labourdonnais' established the first sugar estate. And in the 19th century (1800-1900) under the governorship of Sir Robert Farquhar, the sugar industry was expanded. Then it was exported to Britain. 

-Sir Robert Farquar

-Mahe de Labourdonnais at Port Louis

More and more sugarcane was cultivated and the number of mills reached its peak in 1858. Years went by, with the increase of sugar production, more land was used for cultivation, native forests were replaced by sugarcane fields. It is planted on a flat and undulating land and Mauritius climate is really good for it. 

-Mont Desert Carrié Sugar Mill in the 1900s at Mahebourg

Later in the 20th century, with the sudden fall in the selling price of raw sugar, the agro - industrial companies had developed several activities. They started producing refined sugar and special sugar (muscavado and demerara) for export and local market. From the molasses, rhum and bioethanol were produced, and its bagasse were then used to generate electricity in the thermal power plants. Till now every processed part is being used and sugar is among the main source of mauritian economy.

-Muscavado Sugar 

-White Refined Sugar

-Demarara Sugar

-Mauritian Rhum

By the time the 2010s came, the sugarcane industry which is mainly operated by the 'Omnicane' company, started dying in Mauritius as many other countries started to use other fruits such as the beetroot and manioc to extract sugar. The exportation of locally made sugar started to plummet subsequently and the country was in dire condition because of that for a long time as the we were largely a primary sector country at that time.

-Sugarcane cultivation 

We did successfully come out of that situation though, by diverting towards the tourism industry and concentrating on the hotels and the outlook of the country to an international audience.

In recent years though, we got back to the sugarcane industry and have been trying to be better at it than we were 10 years ago. Unfortunately, we are not there yet as there is still an inconsistent know-how on display here. The future of the sugarcane is not enlightening to say the least and every planter or cultivator is not in a great place either. We do not have enough exports already and most of it is consumed locally at a very low price. Now, with the covid, it has gotten even worse which is too bad because Mauritius has been known for the sugarcane it produces.

We can now only hope for the best.