Sugarcane acreage slips below last year as kharif sowing reaches 967.92 lakh hectares
India’s sugarcane acreage fell slightly to 58.31 lakh hectares as of August 7, from 58.62 lakh hectares last year. Uttar Pradesh saw higher planting, while Maharashtra, Karnataka and other major states declined. Below-normal monsoon rainfall and lower overall kharif sowing remain key concerns.
New Delhi: Sugarcane acreage has declined marginally from last year, with the Agriculture Ministry reporting 58.31 lakh hectares under the crop as of August 7, compared with 58.62 lakh hectares during the same period last year.
The latest figures show a reversal from the position reported until July 31, when government data had indicated that sugarcane acreage was 86,000 hectares higher than the year-ago level, The Hindu Businessline reported.
Among the major sugarcane-growing States, Uttar Pradesh has recorded an increase in acreage, while most other key States have reported slightly lower coverage.
Uttar Pradesh has reported sugarcane acreage of 28.97 lakh hectares, compared with 28.61 lakh hectares a year ago.
In Maharashtra, the area under sugarcane stands at 11.82 lakh hectares against 11.96 lakh hectares last year. Karnataka has recorded 7.33 lakh hectares compared with 7.36 lakh hectares a year ago.
Sugarcane acreage in Gujarat has declined to 1.90 lakh hectares from 2.02 lakh hectares, while Bihar has reported 1.89 lakh hectares against 1.96 lakh hectares.
Tamil Nadu has recorded sugarcane acreage of 1.34 lakh hectares compared with 1.38 lakh hectares a year ago. In Punjab, the area has fallen to 0.81 lakh hectares from 0.95 lakh hectares.
The decline in sugarcane acreage comes as overall kharif sowing has reached 967.92 lakh hectares as of August 7, against 985.89 lakh hectares a year ago. The total kharif area is now 87.6% of the season’s normal coverage of 1,104.46 lakh hectares.
Farmers planted nearly 74 lakh hectares of kharif crops between August 1 and 7, compared with 65.17 lakh hectares in the corresponding period last year.
The Agriculture Ministry has set a production target of 176.16 million tonnes for foodgrains during kharif 2026. Meanwhile, monsoon rainfall was 12% below normal during June 1-August 10, with 345 of 741 districts reporting a rainfall deficit of 20% or more.
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Source: ChiniMandi
