Influence of Sugar Industry Wastewater on Sugarcane Juice Quality and Soil Health

Abstract

S ugarcane is a valued cash crop and plays an important role in the economy of Pakistan. The crop accounted 2.9% in value addition of agriculture and 0.5% in GDP during 2018 -19 (NFDC, 2019. Maintaining optimum fiber (11-14%) quality is vital (Lingle et al., 2010). High fiber (>14%) reduces sugar extraction, and low fiber (<11%) encourages lodging and cane pests. Brix content defines the total soluble solids, dissolved sugars and salts including sucrose, reducing sugars, glucose and fructose present in the cane juice (Nawi et al., 2014). It is indefinite indica-tor of sugar content. The pol is to the only parameter which signifies the actual sugar content in cane. Purity of juice is simply the ratio between brix and pol. Sugar recovery indicates the recoverable sucrose content of cane, while sugar yield depends on cane yield and sugar recovery. Ultimately, sugar recovery depends on the quality of juice produced. The sugarcane yield decreased by 1.8% in 2018-19 over the previous year, while the sugar recovery increased by 4.49% in the same years (PSMA, 2019). However, there is potential to increase the recovery further. Disposal problem of cane and payment difficulties also restricted the acreage of sugarcane.