1. THE EVOLUTION OF MAURITIAN
AGRICULTURE TILL 1990
Presented by:
Anusha Babooa

2. The history of agriculture in
Mauritius can be said to have
had four distinct periods of
development:
The Portuguese and the Dutch
period.
The French occupation period.
The British occupation period.
The post-independence period.

3. THE PORTUGUESE AND THE
DUTCH PERIOD
Mauritian agriculture started when the Portuguese
first visited the island around the year 1507.
1st Dutch settlement (1638)
• Tobacco, chicken, sheep, cattle, goats, pigs,
tobacco, food crops, many kinds of fruit trees and
sugarcane from Djakarta (1639).
 2nd Dutch settlement (1662)
• The farmers were persuaded to grow rice, maize,
sweet potato, banana, pineapple, vegetables and to
rear sheep, cattle & pigs.

4. THE FRENCH PERIOD
 French rule (1715-1810)
 In 1735, Mahé de Labourdonnais
established sugarcane as the main crop.
 He encouraged the production of indigo,
coffee, cotton & spices, food crops
and the rearing of livestock.
 He set up the first sugar mill at Ville-
bague and a second one at Ferney.
 Pierre Poivre consolidated the production of
sugarcane and rice.

5. THE BRITISH PERIOD
 British rule (1810-1968)
 main events:
• the successful efforts made by Governor Farquhar and Cole to
increase sugarcane production
• the reduction of the entry-tax on Mauritian sugar entering Great
• Britain in 1826,which encouraged planters to increase
their production
• the rise in the price of sugar which helped the sugar industry to
develop further
• the payment of compensation to planters for the liberation of
their slaves in 1835. This money was invested in their
plantations
• the arrival of indentured Indian labourers in 1835 to work in the
fields
• the replacement of coffee, cloves and indigo by sugarcane after
cyclones
had damaged them
• the introduction of efficient mills for the extraction of sugar.

6. All these events brought about an
increase in:
The area under sugarcane cultivation
The amount of sugar produced
The number of sugar mills

7. Set up of agricultural institutes:
 The Chamber of Agriculture (1835)
 The “Station Agronomique” (1893)
 The College of Agriculture (1925)
 The Sugarcane Research Station
(1930)/ MSIRI (1953)
 The Cyclone and Drought Insurance
Board (1946). Now known Sugar
Insurance Fund Board (SIFB).
Sources: Beintema et. al (1995); Naidu (n.d.);
Corbett (2002.

8. In 1968:
Only 21 major factories were operating and were
producing about 700,000 tons of sugar
annually. The reasons being:
• The use of machines to prepare the land.
• The application of artificial fertilizers to sugarcane
plantation.
• The use of chemicals to control weeds, pests and
diseases.
• The growing of improved varieties of sugarcane.
• The adoption of irrigation methods.
• The increase in the area of irrigated lands
• The introduction of efficient machines and
equipment in the factories.

9. POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD
 Sugar and tea were the only exports of Mauritius although the
share of tea was quite insignificant. It can be said that when
the British left Mauritius after independence in 1968, the
country had a monocrop economy.
 Importance of agriculture in mauritius:
• It occupies more than half of the land area.
• It produces food and raw materials.
• Majority of people are employed in agriculture and agriculture-related
jobs.
• Many agricultural goods are for export
• The net foreign exchange earnings from the export of agriculture goods are
greater than those of any other exported goods.
 Agriculture and land-Use
• The total area of Mauritius is 194,494 hectares, out of which, about
110,796 hectares are productive agricultural lands.

11. AGRICULTURE
CROPS FISHING
LIVESTOCKS
Local For 1980-Local
consumption Meat fish
export production: Milk 1990-tuna
Cattle, deer, production: fishing
Tobacco pork, poultry, cow, goat
potato & Sugarcane,tropical mutton, beef
other Fruits, flowers
vegetables (anthurium), tea

12. Crops produced in 1988
Sugarcane ≈597,970 tons exported
 Tea - 36,162 tons(79.3% exported)
Tobacco – 967 tons(all consumed locally)
Potato – 12,770 tons(sold locally)
Other vegetables (local consumption)
Fruits – (small quantity exported)
Flowers –(mainly Anthurium-5.9 million
worth Rs23.2 million exported)

13. Production value of selected foodstuff
in 1970’s
1970
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000 1970
5000
0

14. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
Total Home Output
economy
GDP = Total money value of all the goods & services
produced in a country in 1 year.

15. Contribution of agriculture to the GDP
year 1968 1976 1980 1985 1990
Contribution 27.6 23.2 10.5 14.2 10.7
To GDP (%)
Percentage of 96.0 86.5 69.7 45.2 30.8
total exports
(%)
Percentage of 45.3 33.5 25.9 21.6 14.1
employment
(%) **
(establish
ments
employing
> 10
people)
Sources:
1. Economic indicators &
Digests of stats (CSO)
2. Various annual reports

16. 30
25
20
15
1968
10 1990
1976
1985
5 1980 1980
0 1976 1985
1990
1968

17. 100
90
80 1968
70 1976
60 1980
50 1985
1990
40
30 1990
20 1980
10
1968
0
% of total
exports

18. 50
45
40
35
1968
30
1976
25
1980
20 1985
15 1990
1990
10
5 1980
0
1968
% of employment (establishments employing >
10 people)

19. 40
35
30
25
20 1970-4
1975-9
15
1980-4
10 1985-9
5
0
Agriculture's
share in GDP
Source: O'connell & Ndulu
(2000)

20. FROM 1968-1990, REDUCED
IMPORTANCE OF THE SUGAR INDUSTRY
 Contribution to GDP- 6 times smaller
 % of total exports- 6 times smaller
 % of employment in large establishments- 7.5
times smaller
 Percentage of total employment – only 11.4
in 1990
Sources:
1. Economic indicators &
Digests of stats (CSO)
2. Various annual reports

21. WHY ?
British rule(19th century)
Under imperial preference system(1919)
240,000 tonnes in 1925
till 1970’s- sugar still the important economic sector
trade preferences
1. sugar protocol(1975) Lome convention(ACP/EU)
2. special preferential sugar(SPS)
agreement(1995)
duty free acess to EU
stable source of earning market for fixed quantity
Diversification over the years at a guaranteed price

22. The ups & downs in the agricultural
economy
• Economy open to international trade
1820 • Production of sugarcane
• End of Prevalence of malaria leading to the increase in the rate of population
1950 reaching 3% per annum
• Malthusian case scenario
• James Meades (Nobel prize winner in economics) predicting a dismal
1960 future leading to a positive transformation to the economy
• Strong expansion of economy
1970 • Number of people employed in agricultural sector-2.5 times in manufacturing
• Growth of economy at an impressive rate of 6%
• Gross exports of the EPZ surpassed sugar exports
1980 • In late 80’s decline of economy due to labour shortage, rising inflation..
• Sign of modest recovery with solid real growth & low unemployment
1990 • However Mauritius depended heavily for its supplies on imports
• It imported the total amount of its 2 basic staples-rice & sugar
• Over 80% of its consumption needs in milk, beef & lamb

23. Conclusion : Our Economic trajectory
TEXTILE
SUGAR
TOURISM
2000 FINANCIAL SERV.
ICT / BPO
TEXTILE REAL ESTATE
SUGAR SEAFOOD/
TOURISM AQUACULTURE
1990 KNOWLEDGE
FINANCIAL
SERVICES HEALTH
FREEPORT ENERGY
TEXTILE
1980 SUGAR
TOURISM
1970 SUGAR
1970
Monocrop Manufacturing Manufacturing Business
Economy & Tourism & Services Platform
Economy

24. References
• http://www.mauritius-embassy.de/gif/big/html/agriculture
• http://www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/mauritius/index.html
• Country Studies Program, formerly the Army Area Handbook Program, From The Library of
Congress
• http://prosi.net.mu/mca_002.htm
• http://www.gov.mu/portal/site/moa/menuitem
• http://www.areu.mu/files/pub/areunssp.pdf
• http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110237/Agriculture_/agriculture_.html?tql-iframe#Top
• http://benmuse.typepad.com/ben_muse/growth/
• http://www.gov.mu/portal/sites/ncb/ppp/pbiguide.htm#top
• revised report of C&W growth estimate to refer to the period from 1970-1982, instead of "the
1970s".
• MULTI-CRITERIA PLANNING FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT: A FULL EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY
FOR MAURITIUS by J. L. Clovis Vellin, Timothy D. Mount, Thomas T. Poleman
• The Agricultural Sector of Mauritius,Economic Aspects,Past, present and future Pierre
Dinan(DCDM)
• Mauritius: An Economic Success Story ,Ali Zafar ,January 2011
• AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INDICATORS,ASTI Country Brief No. 7 • May 2003
• The Emerging Economic Model of Mauritius ,Mr. Raj Makoond,Director, Joint
Economic Council –presentation at seafood conference,03/03/06, JEC ppt

25. THANK YOU