PUNE, DEC 5: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar exhorted the cooperative sugar sector to usher in a qualitative change in the sugar industry, failing which it would be forced to bow down before global competitors.Pawar, who is also president of the Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) here, emphasised that a qualitative change needed to be effected right from sugarcane cultivation to the actual production of sugar. He was delivering the inaugural address at the two-day State-level conference of chairmen and vice-chairmen of cooperative sugar factories, which commenced at VSI yesterday.The sugar industry was poised at a critical juncture where global sugar production was continually increasing, leading to a drop in the price of the commodity. The cooperative sugar sector in the State could not remain unaffected by the global undercurrents under the present liberalised regime and so, it would have to take corrective measures.The measures will have to be taken right from the stage ofsugarcane cultivation, he said while emphasising the need to step up the per hectare yield of sugarcane. Pawar said that the per hectare yield of sugarcane in Maharashtra has shown a steady decline over the years. The yield had even touched a low of 76 tonnes per hectare during 1992-93, he said, while adding that that concerted efforts in states like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat had led to a sugarcane yield of 100 tonnes per hectare.As regards sugar production, the country has recorded a surplus of 78 lakh metric tonnes and the problem before the industry has been compounded by the import of cheaper sugar from abroad, Pawar said.Starting October 1998, the country has actually imported 22 lakh tonnes of sugar, of which 5.5 lakh tonnes has been from Pakistan, 1.3 lakh tonnes from European Union countries, 6.6 lakh tonnes from Brazil and 3.2 lakh tonnes from Thailand.Besides being cheaper, imported sugar is better in quality too, Pawar said. The import, however, has led to a fall in the domestic market priceof Rs sixty per quintal till now, he said.These countries have a high import duty, with the duty in Pakistan at 36 per cent, 300 per cent in the European Union countries, 55 per cent in Brazil and 104 per cent in Thailand, Pawar said. Panel on amendment to Co-op Act: CMPUNE: Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Sunday said that a committee of experts would be set up to suggest amendments in the present Cooperatives Act.Speaking at the Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Manjri near here, he said, ``In this era of globalisation when we talk of end of the licence raj, I am of the opinion that the government should have least interference in the cooperative sector. ``If those working in the cooperative sugar industry are of the opinion that the cooperative acts needs to be restructured, then the government is ready to make a review,'' Deshmukh said. ``But the need of the hour is proper financial management. The industry is not in good shape at the moment. For bringing out qualitative improvement, harddecisions are the only option before the government,'' Deshmukh said. He also opposed the Centre's decision to import sugar by saying that it had caused fall in prices.Speaking on the occasion, ISRO chief Dr Kasturirangan declared that the ISRO would have a tie-up with the VSI in order to augment the production of sugarcane in the State.President of VSI and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar presided over the function.
