Sugarcane Research Institute 25th anniversary :

Grow more sugarcane and use by-products

Text of the speech by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka at Sugarcane Research Institute 25th anniversary celebration held at BMICH on October 9.

We Sri Lankans consume far too much sugar. That might sound somewhat an unusual note for a beginning for an inaugural address at a seminar held to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sugar Research Institute. But I must repeat that we consume far too much sugar, for our health. Statistics show that diabetes is on the increase alarmingly. It is spreading even among children. And one of the main causes for this is the high consumption of sugar.

I am not saying this to discourage the cultivation of sugarcane or the production of sugar. No. I am saying this in the first place because we import too much sugar. We require annually about 550,000 tons of sugar; but last year we produced only 38,000 tons. The rest of our requirement was imported. We must produce what we need and cut down on imports. We must also advise people to put less sugar in their tea; I am sure the tea will taste better.

At the same time we must grow more sugarcane and use it for other purposes. That is where you research scientists come in. As this is the 25th anniversary of the Sugarcane Research Institute, I understand that you have been at it for 25 years - research I mean. I am sure you must by now have come up with some valuable ideas not only of how to produce more sugarcane but also of other uses for it.

One line of research, I understand, is the production of ethanol, a by-product of the sugar industry. I could be an alternative for petrol. We spend a huge sum of money in importing petroleum. It has been estimated that next year our petrol bill will be 250 billion rupees. Two hundred and fifty billion. Our annual petroleum import bill already amounts to about 25 percent of the value of our total imports. It is extremely important that we start producing and using local alternatives.

Many countries are already either producing and using ethanol in large quantities or are providing incentives to ethanol production and use. Brazil is one country which already produces and uses ethanol for their automobiles.

They started working on this as far back as the 1970s, prompted by the sudden increase in oil prices at that time. Pure ethanol is used in about 40 percent of the cars in Brazil. The rest of the vehicles use a blend of 24 percent ethanol and 76 percent gasoline. There is no reason why we should not do the same.

Among the other by-products of sugarcane is bagasse (the dry pulpy residue left over after the extraction of juice from the sugarcane), which could be used to produce electricity. There are numerous other by-products which I am sure you scientists are engaged in studying.

It is important to remember that import substitution is essential if we are to survive comfortably, without too much dependence on hand-outs from lending agencies. That in fact is the policy of the Government, the Chintanaya of the President. We must produce what we need; not only in food but also as far as possible in other essential requirements.

Our ancestors were self-sufficient. They did not go begging for aid. You might say that that was in another time, almost in another country. But the principle holds even for today. We must find ways and means to be self- sufficient. For too long in the recent past our time, our energy and our resources were drained and debilitated by that miserable scourge of terrorism. Our development was retarded.

We fought that, successfully. It is up to us now to face other challenges and fight them too, successfully. Our people have shown that it can be done. There is no terrorism in our land to prevent or obstruct our progress now. The Government is ever willing to help and encourage all those who work and contribute for the development and well-being of our country and our people. The Government recognizes research as an important contribution to the material development of our nation.