The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Celso Correia, announced, this Thursday, a new program to promote and massify the production of sugar cane to meet the needs of the sugar industry.

The program foresees a production of 500 thousand tons of sugarcane per campaign. "We have a great potential for absorbing production. We are at 50 % of our capacity and oscillating in recent years and we want to reach 500,000 tons," said Correia, quoted by Radio Mozambique.

"This commitment that you have just heard from our producers, to absorb production up to 500,000 tons, opens doors for those who want to invest in the agricultural cane sector," he added.

The governor Celso Correia was speaking this Thursday at Açucareira da Maragra, Manhiça district, Maputo province, during the balance sheet meeting of the sugar sub-sector.