USDA Post estimates sugar production in India to reach 355 lakh tonnes
04-Oct-2024 02:22 PM
USDA Post estimates sugar production in India to reach 355 lakh tonnes
New Delhi. The Indian Representative Office (USDA Post) of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has said that India has received abundant southwest monsoon rains during the current year, which is expected to improve the average recovery rate of sugar from sugarcane and the average yield rate of sugarcane. On this basis, the domestic production of sugar is estimated to increase to 355 lakh tonnes in the current marketing season (October-September) of 2024-25, which is 10 lakh tonnes more than the official estimate of USDA of 345 lakh tonnes. USDA Post has estimated sugar production in India to be 340 lakh tonnes during the 2023-24 season, which is equal to the official estimate of USDA. The production of 355 lakh tonnes of sugar estimated by Usda Post is of raw sugar which is equivalent to 332 lakh tonnes of crystal or white sieve (including Khandsari). On the other hand, India's top industry body - Indian Sugar and Bio Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) has expressed the possibility of production of 333.1 lakh tonnes of sugar in the 2024-25 season. Usda Post has said that the sugarcane crop in India benefited greatly due to abundant rainfall in the southwest monsoon.
Due to good rainfall, adequate availability of water has been ensured in states like Maharashtra and Karnataka and sugar mills will not have to face its shortage. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh has also received adequate rainfall this time. It is noteworthy that Maharashtra is the largest producer of sugar in India, while Uttar Pradesh is second and Karnataka is third. Apart from this, sugarcane and sugar are also produced in some other states including Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
But the USDA post has predicted that the sugarcane sowing area in India may fall by 1 percent to 5 lakh hectares for the 2024-25 season, which is less than the estimated figures of ISMA and the Union Ministry of Agriculture. The post says that this time in some parts of North Karnataka and Maharashtra, farmers have reduced the area of sugarcane and increased the area of other crops. But due to the high yield rate, the total production of sugarcane at the national level is expected to increase by 1 percent from 4155 lakh tonnes last season to 4180 lakh tonnes this time.