SUGAR BEET

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 July 1923, Page 8

SUGAR BEET

DOMINION POSSIBILITIES. The suggestion that sugar beet production in New Zealand would tend to stabilise the sugar market and eventual' reduce the price of sugar, which was made in the House by Mr Al’Kay (Hawkes Bay) has been dealt with by the Hon. \V. Nosworthy, Alinister of Agriculture, who also deals with the suggestion that the Government should take some action towards development I of the industry. * The Alinister declares that the statement is warranted that beet grown:" would prove profitable in suitable districts, given a good market for the beets. The first essential in the establishment of the suger beet industry is that the farmers of any particular district in close proximity' to a railway line should guarantee yearly sufficient beets to keep a 509-ton factory working at full capacity for say 100 days per season, in other words a yearly guarantee of 50,000 tons of beets was necessary before there would be a likelihood of attracting sufficient capital, either private or public, for investment in a sugar beet factory. The securing of such guarantee would necessitate the growing of 5000 acres of beet annually, and it was quite possible that if farmers were prepared to carry out their portion of the task, namely regularly growing sufficient beets to keep the factory employed at full capacity, private enterprise would deal with the manufacturing end of the venture, and inquiries in this direction are in progress.