Government hopeful of increase in sugar production in next marketing season
31-Jul-2024 07:55 PM
New Delhi. Due to good rains in South-West monsoon in major producing states like Maharashtra and Karnataka, the condition of sugarcane crop is said to be better but there is some problem with Uttar Pradesh. There is a need to keep an eye on sugarcane crop in Gujarat,
Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana also. Of course, at the national level, there has been some increase in the sugarcane sowing area this time as compared to last year, but for better production, it is necessary to have favorable weather from August to October.
According to official data, at the all India level, the sugarcane sowing area has increased by 63 thousand hectares from 57.05 lakh hectares last year to 57.68 lakh hectares this time, due to which an increase in sugar production can generally be expected, but for this it is important to pay attention to three things.
The first thing is the weather. It will be necessary to see how the weather remains in the major sugarcane producing states during the next two-three months and how much profit or loss it causes to the crop.
The second thing is how much quantity of sugarcane the government allows to be used for ethanol production. It is known that during the current marketing season of 2023-24 (October-September), only 17 lakh tonnes of sugar equivalent sugarcane was allowed to be used in ethanol production.
If more quantity is allowed to be used in the 2024-25 season, then the production of pure sugar for food purposes may be partially affected.
The third thing is that one will also have to keep an eye on the demand for sugarcane in the jaggery-khandsari manufacturing industry.
The price of jaggery remains at a high level like sugar, which may increase its crushing at the kolhus. Overall, the government expects some improvement in sugar production.
The apex industry body - ISMA has estimated domestic production of 320 lakh tonnes of sugar during the 2023-24 season and probably the government also agrees with this production figure. Sugarcane crushing is going to start from October 2024.