Continued rains in Maharashtra last year have negatively affected the sugarcane crop and resulted in poor harvest this year. The drop in sugarcane production has had a domino effect on the 210 sugarcane factories in the state that shut shop way before the scheduled season.
Speaking with Down To Earth, Amar Patil, a sugarcane farmer in Kolhapur, said extended rains in the months of October and November beyond the monsoon season led to accumulation of moisture in the soil.
“Sugarcane crop requires a good amount of sun during its growth stages. The moisture led to poor growth. I estimated a production of 80 tonnes from my farm, but could only achieve 60 tonnes of total produce,” he said.
Patil said a drop in 20 per cent of sugarcane production was significant. However, the poor yield has extended across the state.
Extreme weather events directly or indirectly affect sugarcane production, according to a review article Climate Change and Sugarcane Production: Potential Impact and Mitigation Strategies published by the International Journal of Agronomy in 2015.
It also warned: “The negative effects of climate change on sugarcane production are very likely to worsen after 2050, especially if greenhouse gas emissions still remain high.”
PG Medhe, a sugar expert and former managing director at Rajarambapu Co-operative Sugar factory, Kolhapur, said the overall sugar production has dropped by 20 per cent in the factories.
The lower sugarcane yield has led to all the 210 sugarcane factories in Maharashtra shutting shop way before the scheduled season.
On April 17, the final crushing report recorded 105.47 million tonnes of sugarcane crushed to produce 105.27 million quintals of sugar, lower by 9.98 per cent compared with last year.
The sugarcane factories open business around November after the sugarcane harvesting begins and continue till June or July, Medhe said. However, this year, the factories closed operations in April itself.
The move is likely to affect the international sugar market as well. “The international rate for sugar is Rs 55 per kilogram, highest in the past 11 years. Maharashtra is the leading producer of sugar in the country and India is a major exporter of sugar,” he said.
But the low production and the cap imposed by the government for 6.1 million tonnes for export is likely to stress the sugar prices globally.
“Even if the sugar export cap is eased, the sugar cooperatives are struggling to make ends meet. The minimum support price of sugar is Rs 32-33 per kilogram, but the production cost has reached Rs 36 per kilo. There has been no increase in sugar prices since 2019,” he said.
According to a report in Reuters, sugar retail prices in India have scaled up by six per cent as production dropped.
The prices will remain stagnant given the elections in 2024 at the Centre and the state, Medhe said. “The sugar producing factories are running in losses.”
The sugar cooperatives of Maharashtra had written a letter to the central government raising the issues, but Medhe said no action has been taken on the same.
The cooperatives are already operating by borrowing money. “As the cooperatives are not making, they are unable to give deserved prices to the farmers for their produce. It is affecting the farmers as well,” said Prakash Awade, chairman at Kallappanna Awade Cooperative Sugar Factory Ltd.