Sugar cane industry: Tradition and economic feasibility
NIZWA — The Wilayat of Nizwa is known for having large areas of land planted with sugarcane, as it is one of the wilayats that is famous for its red sugar industry that is manufactured from the sugarcane, where sons inherit the profession of manufacturing red sugar from their fathers. The profession has a good economic return, as the farmers are keen enough to grow sugarcane, looking after it and then producing sugar. Usually farmers prepare the lands to grow sugarcane in April every year. They clean the land first, then plant the seedlings. When seedling grows and the sugarcanes start to appear, the farmers pay attention to crop stalks and remove dry leaves and tying the legs to resist climate conditions, in addition to regular irrigation and fertilisation.
After full year, ie in March of each year, the farmers begin to prepare for squeezing of sugarcane by preparing the sugarcane juice machines they own, or to use the machines of a neighbour farmer. The sugarcanes are cut, cleaned and bundled to be transported to the squeezing juice machines. The juice is transferred to the boiler for refining. The juice is boiled for three hours to get rid of stains, until water evaporates and the juice turns into liquid sugar, with the addition of some flavouring and transported to dark stores to get red sugar drying in special pools or containers made of palm leaves, known locally as Jirab. After drying, the sugar is stored in those containers for future use or to sell it for customers. Red sugar is demanded among Omanis, as it is used for the treatment of certain diseases, especially intestinal diseases.
The majority of farmers in Nizwa simply convert sugarcane juice into red sugar as the red sugar is easily marketed and as it remains consumable for a long period of time. Of the industries that use sugarcane is Al Zeej a local name for the sugar that is not very dense and which is used as a substitute for honey and date honey (Al Dibs) and also Al Blooj, a kind of sugar that is higher in quality than the red sugar. In its efforts to develop the crop, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has developed the cultivation of sugarcane in a number of wilayats in the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah, that are famous for its cultivation and modernise the sugarcane refineries to preserve Omani genetic resources of the sugarcane varieties and raise the productivity of farmlands that are irrigated by the Aflaj, in addition to the development of the sugar industry, the development of traditional industries and the development of packaging operations. There are no statistics on the quantities extracted from sugarcane in Nizwa, but it increases with the availability of water for irrigation. — ONA
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