Sugar mills face sugarcane crisis, crushing season may end prematurely

The sugarcane industry is going through a two-way crisis. Due to red rot in the states of North India and unseasonal rains in the southern states, a huge decline in sugarcane production is being seen. Productivity is also badly affected. This is directly affecting the sugar mills. The crushing season which runs from November to April may end in mid-March itself.

According to the National Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation (NFCSF), only 507 sugar mills are operational in the country right now, whereas last year 524 mills were operational. That is, 17 mills are still waiting to be operational. Most of the sugar mills are closed in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. The condition of sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is also not good.

There is already a shortage of sugarcane for crushing. It is feared that many running mills may have to be closed in March itself. In such a situation, there is an estimate of a decrease of 49 lakh tons in sugar production in the current season. Last year 319 lakh tons of sugar was produced. This time only 270 lakh tons are estimated. The biggest sugar-producing states are Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, where production has come down due to top shoot borer and red rot disease.

In comparison to the same period last year, about one million tons of sugarcane has not yet reached the sugar mills in Maharashtra. Although eight lakh tons more sugarcane has been crushed in Uttar Pradesh so far, there is a danger of a shortage of sugarcane soon because this time sugarcane started reaching the mills earlier due to floods in North India and then due to insufficient cold.