Sugarcane Nursery: The economy of sugarcane nurseries has deteriorated
Kolhapur News : The seriousness of the drought situation is increasing and this is affecting agriculture as well as non-agricultural businesses. Demand for sugarcane plants from sugarcane nurseries has dropped by 50 percent in the last twenty days. Heavy rains in August had an adverse effect on sugarcane cultivation. Sugarcane cultivation is going on at a slow pace this year due to lack of water.
The seriousness of the drought situation is increasing and this is affecting agriculture as well as ancillary businesses. Demand for sugarcane plants from sugarcane nurseries has dropped by 50 percent in the last twenty days. Heavy rains in August had an adverse effect on sugarcane cultivation. Sugarcane cultivation is going on at a slow pace this year due to lack of water.
From sugarcane nurseries in western Maharashtra, there is demand for seedlings across the state. This year, due to the lack of rain till the first fortnight of July, the cultivation during the rainy season was also stopped. In the second fortnight of July, the demand for plants, which stopped after the rains started, started. Generally till the beginning of August there was a slight demand for seedlings.
After this, however, it decreased. Many nursery operators preferred to purchase sugarcane in bulk and produce seedlings in the hope that demand would increase. But the sudden drop in demand has left nursery operators in financial trouble.
There is constant demand for sugarcane plants from the horticultural belt of Nanded, Solapur, Nashik, Pune along with Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara. But this year, due to the decrease in the local water level in this area, the farmers avoided sugarcane cultivation.
Nursery operators are hopeful that if there is good rain this month, there may be a demand for the saplings in October. But until then, the challenge of planning the plants is before the nurseries.
Decline in demand from Gujarat
Nursery operators sell saplings within the state as well as in Karnataka, Gujarat. Along with Maharashtra, the demand in Karnataka was also low this year. Nursery operators tried to make up for the shortage of Maharashtra and Karnataka by sending seedlings to Gujarat. As there was not much demand in Gujarat in September, now the demand from Gujarat has also cooled down. Due to this, it is a big challenge to sell the remaining plants from now on.
Sugarcane prices have also gone up in the last few months. Farmers have to buy sugarcane at the rate of Rs 3500 to 4500 per ton depending on the variety. In this, the prices of ‘tray’ also increased. Despite all this rush, problems have increased due to low demand
.- Prahlad Pawar, Nursery Manager, Res. Purple, Shirol, Dist. Kolhapur.
Source Link: https://www.agrowon.com/agriculture-latest-news/economy-of-sugarcane-nurseries-colapsed
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