Agricultural Sector: A buoyant future despite setbacks

Agriculture has been tightly knit with the history of Mauritius. In 1968, half of the land was dedicated to sugarcane cultivation and the country was producing about 700,000 tons of sugar annually while the export of tea was quite insignificant. However, following Independence, the country had a monocrop economy. In 1988 the production decreased with only 597,970 tons of sugar exported along with 36,162 tons of tea. Crop production for local consumption among potatoes was of 12,770 sold locally. The contribution of agriculture of the country’s GDP significantly shifted from 27.6% in 1968 to 10.7% in 1990. Mauritius started to depend heavily on imports. According to latest statistics, the value added of agriculture sector was Rs10 billion in 2014. In addition, the share of agriculture to the GPD was 3%.

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"12723","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-20956 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"253","height":"228","alt":"Salill-Roy"}}]]Salil Roy: “A brilliant future ahead”

The President of the Planters’ Reform Association explains that the pathway of the agriculture sector even before Independence was not an unchallengeable one. “The first people who worked and developed the sector were indentured labourers. It is thanks to them that the country has achieved immense progress. I believe that if our graduates follow the same steps, it will be more than beneficial to the country,” he says. Salil Roy explains that labourers and small planters have fought through the years for their rights and have greatly contributed to building the country’s economy. “For example they did not have access to banking finance. Following the law amendment, they have been able to make further progress in their lives and give education to their children who are now performing at high level.” For Salil Roy the agriculture sector has much diversified through the years, especially the sugarcane industry. “There has been a lot of progress, when we take a look at the sugarcane industry which is one of the most important economic activities. Many battles have been fought to revive the industry, for example, we now have the bagasse and molasses.” However, Salil Roy declares that he is sad to notice that nothing has been done to safeguard the small planters. “From 36,000 we now have only 12,000 planters. Many have abandonned their lands. In 2016, we are still fighting for a fairer share of the pie for planters. The government must realise that small planters deserve some positive discrimination. It must also identify and correct inequalities in terms of revenue distribution in the industry.” He added that he does not believe that sugarcane is no more profitable. “Sugarcane is in truth profitable for all.” The President of the Planters’ Reform Association trusts that the future of the agriculture industry is brilliant. “For example we not only produce sugar from cane but we are creating our own energy through ethanol. We do not need to import coal. In addition Mauritius has become number 1 in terms of special sugars.” Regarding the future of food security, Salil Roy is confident. “We are producing much food from our lands, so we cannot say that there is no future regarding food security. With the contribution of technology we are now coming forward with Bio products. However I trust that we can go further by producing more instead of importing. For example, we can produce milk and other value added food and vegetables. Self sufficiency has great prospect in Mauritius. All we need is that decision makers need to set the priorities.”