Historical Background

The sugar cane plant was introduced into Mauritius by the Dutch settlers in 1639.

Sugar was manufactured for the first time in 1696. The sugar industry expanded in the 19th century and sugar production reached 150 000 tonnes in 1862 from 52 000 hectares of cane. 

Organized research started with the creation of the Station Agronomique in 1893. A special section on sugar cane research was established at the Department of Agriculture in 1930. Following recommendations made by the Mauritius Economic Commission in 1947 the sugar industry decided to organize and conduct its own research. Thus, the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute, was founded in 1953 with the mandate "to promote by means of research and investigation the technical progress of the sugar industry". 

Today, technologies developed at the Institute have helped the industry reach an average annual production of about 600 000 tonnes of sugar from around 72 000 hectares of cane.