Togo set to open its first sugar factory by 2020

Agriculture

Monday, 22 October 2018 15:01

Togo set to open its first sugar factory by 2020

(Togo First) - Togo could have its first sugar factory in 2020. This was disclosed by the head of the country’s Agricultural Research Institute (ITRA), Dr. Bonfoh Bèdibètè, in an interview with agridigitale.net.

“Two years ago, President Faure Gnassingbé instructed us to build by 2020 a sugar factory in the Oti plain”, he said. However, “sugar cane grown in Togo cannot be used to produce sugar”, according to Dr. Bèdibètè who added that the actual challenge is to “identify the best sugar cane varieties to produce quality sugar”.

In this regard, he revealed that various financings were secured and used to purchase “43 varieties of sugar cane from Thailand, USA, etc.”. “Among these 43 varieties, we, following experimentation, identified 10 that are very efficient and able to produce a lot of sugar. We have been conducting this experiment for a year now”, ITRA’s head declared.

“We will continue experimenting on the ten selected varieties to find the best two or three to achieve a very good production in the Oti valley,” he added.

Tests are ongoing at the experimentation field, in Sadori (Northern Togo), and expected results should help develop a 20,000 ha top quality sugar cane plantation. If everything goes according to schedule, Togo should have its first sugar factory by 2020, in the Savanes region.

Séna Akoda

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