Technologiebeleid en wetenschappelijk onderzoek voor de Java-suikerindustrie tijdens het kultuurstelsel (1830-1870)

Abstract

Technology policy and scientific research for the Java sugar industry during the Cultivation System (1830-1870) It has been generally held that during the Cultivation System government poUcies inhibited the pace of the mechanization process in the sugar industry. Because of this, Java's sugar industry was not able to maintain itself in the fierce competition on the world market for sugar. We want to readjust this idea by focussing on a case study of a research project initiated by the Ministry of Colonial Affairs to determine the exact composition of Java's sugar cane in order to improve the Java sugar mills. The project was developed by the famous Utrecht professor in chemistry Gerrit Jan Mulder and was carried out in Java by the agricultural chemist P.F.H. Fromberg at the Agricultural Chemical Laboratory in Buitenzorg, Java. On the basis of this case study it is shown that this research was only a small part of a more extended policy of the Dutch colonial government and the Ministry of Colonial Affairs in order to improve the production technology of the Java sugar factories. The motivation underlying this policy was that the treasury benefited from a higher sugar production and a better quality of sugar.