Africa-Press – Angola. The Secretary of State for Agriculture, João Cunha said Thursday in Malanje that the country will continue to periodically increase the reduction of sugar imports through production carried out by the Angolan Bio-energy Company (BIOCOM), located in the municipality of Cacuso.
According to the official, after ten years of existence, BIOCOM currently produces considerable amounts of sugar, which allowed the country to reduce imports of the product by 40 percent and increase its consumption at national level.
João Cunha made this statement when opening the harvest of the 2023 agricultural year, at the said farm, having stressed that with that figure the country is now saving considerable foreign currency that is being channeled to other purposes.
He said that one of the indicators of the future increase in sugar production and consequent reduction in imports is the expected figure of 120 thousand tons of sugar during the harvest opened yesterday, which also represents a high level of investment and economic development that the country is reaching.
He stressed that, despite this, there is still much to be done to increase production in the various sectors, which is why the Executive has been devising various policies, with emphasis on the National Plan for the Promotion of Grain Production (PLANAGRAN), currently being used of the water potential and arable land it holds, towards the promotion of the green revolution.
He specified that the PLANAGRÃO and other programs of the Executive in the sectors of sugar cane production, livestock and fisheries, were designed with a view to achieving food self-sufficiency in the medium and long term and creating conditions for the export of products and putting an end to the dependency on oil.
“We have arable land, water, favorable climate and other necessary conditions to leverage the agro-industrial sector and walk incisively and decisively in obtaining revenue for the State coffers without depending on the export of oil”, he stressed.
In turn, the general director of BIOCOM, Uirá Ribeiro said that the farm is currently in a challenging period of production, tending to reach an increasing increase in its capacity, to face the intentions of the Angolan State, being that it is the only company in the country that produces sugar, ethanol, alcohol and clean energy from sugarcane.
He added that alongside this, it has also been contributing with actions linked to the development of the sectors of education, sport, professional training and employment, within the scope of its social responsibility, with emphasis on the population of the municipality of Cacuso.
The farm reached 110,000 tons in the 2022 harvest, 10,000 tons less than the estimated amount for this year.
The now open harvest campaign also marked the celebrations of BIOCOM’s 10th anniversary, which yesterday, April 27, marks and was witnessed by members of the government, businessmen and citizens from other social strata.
BIOCOM is a public company in the agricultural sector installed in the Agro-industrial Pole of Capanda (PAC), in the municipality of Cacuso, province of Malanje, in an area of over 80,000 hectares, of which 70 are arable and 11,000 are for plant preservation.
It has an installed production capacity of 2.2 million tons of sugarcane in an area of 38,000 hectares, 250,000 tons of white crystal sugar, 37,000 cubic meters of neutral alcohol and to export 136,000 megawatts of electricity. renewable.
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