Sugar Cane - Sugar Cane And Sugar

Sugar cane is where the vast majority of the worlds supply of sugar comes from. Its competitor to the throne, is sugar beets. While sugar beet production has slowly been growing in some countries, sugar cane still enjoys exclusive production in Asia and the Caribbean. Despite the way the plant looks in general, sugar cane is actually a type of grass that can reach heights of up to 18 feet. Today, all sugar cane grown for sugar production have been engineered crops. They are all complex hybrids in one form or another.

Sugar cane is found only in warmer climates, which make tropical countries ideal for sugar cane agriculture. So it comes as no surprise that Brazil and India are the two biggest producers of sugar cane in the world. Brazil itself accounts for nearly 35% of the worlds sugar cane production.

Sugar cane is one of the few plants able to completely regrow itself from the roots. This makes harvesting very easy as the entire stalk minus the roots are taken. This can be done many times before replanting is necessary. While it can vary from climate to climate, it takes on average roughly 12 months to mature. The harvesting process itself can be lengthy where it can take months for a full harvest. There are generally two stages to sugar cane processing. The first stage produces raw sugar. Further processing yeilds refined sugar for household consumption.

Besides producing most of the world's sugar, there are a few benefits that sugar cane offers to consumers. Since sugar cane juice is alkaline in nature, it was found to have anti-cancer properties. Studies have shown that it has positive activity against breast and prostrate cancer. While sugar cane may come across as too sweet for some, it actually has less sugar than many of soda's such as Coca Cola, Sprite and Pepsi. The waste from the sugarcane from harvesting can be used to generate electricity.

Finally, sugar cane is also a good source of bio-fuels. Sugar cane ethanol sees wide spread use in the automotive industry along with corn based ethanol. It must be noted that sugar cane ethanol yields more energy per unit that corn ethanol does.