drastically from 1:1 in 1988-89 to 0.93:1 in 1989-90, the company could make a turnaround in profits. The directors were happy to record that for the first time in about 10 years the company had made profits. The high-water mark of the com- pany's performance in the last three years was the improvement in capacity utilisation from about 60 per cent to around 90 per cent in the sugar units. A well designed incentive programme for sugarcane cultivation and supply and for the propagation of high sucrose varieties has secured good results.