The sugar industry in Tucumán during the interwar period. Alternatives to specialization and by-product development

Alternativas en torno a la especialización y el desarrollo de subproductos

Abstract

We propose to analyze the development of the sugar sector in Tucumán between the 1920s and the early 1940s, focusing the analysis on the business strategies deployed by the sugar industrialists to overcome an adverse situation marked by intra-sector disputes, overproduction and regulations to the activity. To this end, we will explore the different productive trials that were implemented, the new attention paid to sugar by-products (particularly residual molasses for the manufacture of different types of alcohols and bagasse for the production of cellulose pulp and paper). We will also explore the joint actions carried out between the private sector and scientific
institutions such as the Agricultural Experimental Station of Tucumán.

Keywords: sugar, by-products, regional economy, innovation