Agricultural and Fish Production: January - June 2020
Highlights
1. Sugar cane
At the end of June 2020, some 467 hectares under sugar cane for crop 2020 were harvested, yielding 37,104 tonnes of sugar cane and 5,082 tonnes of sugar. The corresponding figures for the same period of 2019 were 1,228 hectares, 96,747 tonnes of sugar cane and 11,709 tonnes of sugar respectively. The average extraction rate as at end of June 2020 was 8.68%, higher than the 8.48% as at end of June 2019.
The latest estimate of Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture for the production of sugar for the 2020 crop is 290,000 tonnes, representing a decrease of 12.4%, compared to 331,105 tonnes for 2019.
2. Tea
At the end of June 2020, area under tea plantation was 685 hectares representing an increase of 4.4% over the figure of 656 hectares during the same period of 2019. The production of green tea leaves went down by 47.6% from 4,970 tonnes in the first semester of 2019 to 2,606 tonnes in the first semester of 2020. This resulted in a decrease in the production of manufactured tea by 45.2% from 899 tonnes to 493 tonnes.
3. Food crops
A total area of 2,981 hectares under food crops was harvested during the first semester of 2020, representing a drop of 7.9% over the figure of 3,238 hectares for the first semester of 2019. The production decreased by 17.8% from 37,846 tonnes to 31,120 tonnes. It is to be noted that there was no rice cultivation in the first semester of 2020 compared to 6 hectares harvested during the same period of 2019. There was no production of paddy rice in the first semester of 2020 compared to 21 tonnes during the same period of 2019.
4. Livestock
During the first six months of 2020, beef production from live cattle was 946 tonnes, 18.5% lower than the production of 1,161 tonnes in the same period of 2019. Production of beef from the slaughter of imported cattle decreased by 16.6% and that of local beef went down from 41 tonnes to 12 tonnes.
Production of goat meat and mutton went down by 22.2% and that of pork decreased by 17.0%.
5. Poultry
The production of poultry was 22,500 tonnes in the first semester of 2020 compared to 24,600 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2019.
6. Fish
Fish production decreased by 22.3% from 15,800 tonnes in the first six months of 2019 to 12,278 tonnes in the same period of 2020. Production of other catch (tuna, bank etc) fell by 21.4% and that of fresh coastal fish decreased by 37.6%.
It is to be noted that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected production in first semester of 2020. Additionally, unfavourable climatic conditions have affected the production of agricultural crops.
September 2020
