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There was more juice in the symposium organised by the Sugarcane Breeding Institute at The Residency this morning, though not palatable or sweet.
While industry leaders and researchers did echo that the sugar industry is in the stage of reaching a peril, their views thereafter went in diverse directions.
Chairman of Bannari Amman Sugars Ltd S V Balasubramaniam in his keynote address said that to get out of this peril, the industry should look for high-yielding cane varieties and cost-effective sugar production, product diversification and capacity expansion to meet the growing demand for sugar.
But, Vice-Chairman of Sakthi Sugars M Manickam categorically stated that the industry should de-grow by 10 per cent to get out of this peril.
Blaming policy makers for the rough and tough situation that the industry is treading through at present, he said: "We have to produce a product that can neither be controlled nor would be controllable by the Government.''
Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University K Ramasamy, who patiently heard the sugar barons' views, did neither spare the industry nor the researchers.
He urged the industry to value add and transform their outlook instead of blaming the Government and stressed the need for investing in path-breaking technologies.
"Research capacity in India is always sleeping. There is no competition. We need to wake up to reality,'' he added.
The symposium was on 'Bioenergy for Sustainable Development - The potential role of sugar crops'.
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