SA's sugar industry, a lifeline for more than a million poor rural dependants, desperately needs government action to lift its flagging fortunes. SA's sugar industry, a lifeline for more than a million poor rural dependants, desperately needs government action to lift its flagging fortunes.In a number of countries s ugar has become little more than a byproduct . In these countries, such as Brazil , most of farmers' income tends to be earned from ethanol produced for biofuel and the generation of electricity from biomass.The trend has given rise to a distinction between the "sugar" and "sugarcane" industries, the latter including all economic activities related to the plant.In SA, however, the additional income streams have not materialised because, industry bodies say, of a lack of government policy promoting the sugarcane industry's potential role in generating renewable energy.The SA industry has been hit by drought in recent seasons, and cane production has dwindled...
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