Sugar production in Maharashtra drops by 320 lakh quintals
Maharashtra’s sugar production for 2022-23 decreased by 320 lakh quintals compared to last year due to unseasonal rains, old seed, and less sugar generation from per tonnes of sugarcane. At least 210 sugar mills produced 1,053.17 lakh quintals of sugar, with an average sugar production of 10%.
Given that the season for crushing sugarcane ended in April, Maharashtra’s sugar production has decreased by 320 lakh quintals compared to last year. At least 210 sugar mills produced 1,053.17 lakh quintals of sugar in 2022-23 as opposed to 1,373 lakh quintals in the previous year.
There are 106 cooperative sugar mills and 104 private mills in the state, as per officials.
Shekhar Gaikwad, sugar commissioner of the state, said, “Maharashtra is the highest sugar-producing state in India. This year in 2022-23, Maharashtra produced 1,053 lakh quintals of sugar by crushing 1,052 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane. The average sugar production from each tonne is 10 per cent.”
“In 2021-22, Maharashtra produced the highest ever output. We produced 1,373 lakh quintals of sugar but this year it has dipped by 320 lakh quintals,” he said.
Gaikwad said, “Unseasonal rains, old seed and less sugar generation from per tonnes sugarcane contributed to the dip in the production. Last year the average sugar production per metric tonne of sugarcane was 10.40 per cent, but this year it is 10 per cent. Also, last year as sugarcane production was high, mills were running for 173 days and this year the season ended in 121 days.”
“While there are protests during the sugarcane crushing season every year, this season went without a hitch, and farmers received their payments from the mills on time,” he said.
In Maharashtra, Solapur district has 37 mills, followed by Ahmednagar district which has 23 mills and Kolhapur district has 21 sugar mills.
Earlier only western Maharashtra was involved in sugarcane farming but now it spread across the state. Sugarcane is cultivated in 22 districts and almost all districts have sugar mills. Even the Vidharbha region has sugar mills which include Nagpur, Bhandara, Buldhana, Vardha and Yavatmal.
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