CATCH THE BUZZ – Top 10 Largest Sugar Producing Countries in the World

Top 10 Largest Countries in the World Sugar Producing (As On FY-2014-2015)

Top 10 Largest Countries in the World Sugar Producing (As On FY-2014-2015) - BUZZ

Karthikeyan Dhanushkodi

Director at Navadhane Agro Foods Pvt. Ltd.

Sugarcane, Saccharum officinarum L., an energy source for human beings and, more recently, a replacement of fossil fuel for motor vehicles, was first grown in South East Asia and Western India. Around 327 B.C. it was an important crop in the Indian sub-continent. It was introduced to Egypt around 647 A.D. and, about one century later, to Spain (755 A.D.).

Since then, the cultivation of sugarcane was extended to nearly all tropical and sub-tropical regions. Portuguese and Spaniards took it to the New World early in the XVI century. It was introduced to the United States of America (Louisiana) around 1741.

Botanically, sugarcane belongs to the Andropogonae tribe of the family Gramineae, order Glumiflorae, class Monocotyledoneae, subdivision Angiospermae, division Embryophita siphonogama. The subtribe is Sacharae and the genus, of course, Saccharum, derived from the Sanskrit “sarkara = white sugar”, a reminder that the plant reached the Mediterranean region from India.

Sugarcane growing countries of the world lie between the latitude 36.7° north and 31.0° south of the equator extending from tropical to subtropical zones.

Sugar contains glucose, fructose and galactose and it is widely produced by sugarcane and sugar beet. A report said that an average person consumes about 24 kg of sugar every year and the world is producing around 174 million tonnes of sugar every year. There is no country where sugar is not being used.  According to a recent report there are more than 120 countries producing sugar on large scale to meet their own needs and for export Most (80%) of sugar is obtained from sugarcane and the other 20% is obtained from sugar beets.

Rank Country

1. Brazil

2. India

3. EU

4. China

5. Thailand

6. United States

7. Mexico

8. Pakistan

9. Australia

10. Russia