SCOUL to start sh500moutgrowers loan scheme
Feb 12, 2006
A sh500m loan scheme to boost outgrowers will be provided by the Sugar Corporation of Uganda (SCOUL).
By Joel Ogwang
A sh500m loan scheme to boost outgrowers will be provided by the Sugar Corporation of Uganda (SCOUL).
SCOUL’s chief executive, S.C. Khanna, said the loans would be given out in the form of buying seed canes, bush clearance and maintenance, seminars and providing tractors for mechanisation.
He said the scheme aims at wooing back outgrowers who are selling cane to sugar mills.
“Outgrowers selling cane to sugar mills is a serious problem but with the loans, we shall hook them back,†Khanna said.
He said the firm that is targeting an increase in production from 44,000 tonnes in 2005 to 48,000 this year, would rely much on cane from SCOUL plantations.
Khanna said 500,000 tonnes of cane would be got from SCOUL’s plantations and about 100,000 tonnes bought from outgrowers to realise the target.
He said due to frequent loadshedding, they plan to generate electricity from cane residue (biogas).
“We are using 4MW of electricity from Umeme. We expect to produce about 6MW as soon as the project kicks off,†Khanna said in an interview. He said they would sell the surplus power to Umeme.
He said emphasis would be on producing sugar that conforms to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards’ requirements.
SCOUL also complies with the International Standards Organisation.
A sh500m loan scheme to boost outgrowers will be provided by the Sugar Corporation of Uganda (SCOUL).
SCOUL’s chief executive, S.C. Khanna, said the loans would be given out in the form of buying seed canes, bush clearance and maintenance, seminars and providing tractors for mechanisation.
He said the scheme aims at wooing back outgrowers who are selling cane to sugar mills.
“Outgrowers selling cane to sugar mills is a serious problem but with the loans, we shall hook them back,†Khanna said.
He said the firm that is targeting an increase in production from 44,000 tonnes in 2005 to 48,000 this year, would rely much on cane from SCOUL plantations.
Khanna said 500,000 tonnes of cane would be got from SCOUL’s plantations and about 100,000 tonnes bought from outgrowers to realise the target.
He said due to frequent loadshedding, they plan to generate electricity from cane residue (biogas).
“We are using 4MW of electricity from Umeme. We expect to produce about 6MW as soon as the project kicks off,†Khanna said in an interview. He said they would sell the surplus power to Umeme.
He said emphasis would be on producing sugar that conforms to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards’ requirements.
SCOUL also complies with the International Standards Organisation.