Recent rains infuse new lease of life in sugarcane

Sugarcane farmers in Gujarat have heaved a sigh of relief with rains coming to their rescue. After a gap of more than a month, much needed rainfall across Gujarat, especially major cane growing region of South Gujarat, has helped control the damage to sugarcane crop.

Though other parts of the country continued to witness downpour in August, western region in general and Gujarat in particular remained dry during July-August. The dry spell sparked off fears of major loss to Kharif crops.

"There was a dire need of water and the damage to sugarcane would have been severe without the rains. However, the recent downpour has saved the crop from adverse impact", said GK Fakir, director of sugar, government of Gujarat.

The situation has improved in Southern parts of the country with the lack of availability irrigation water through canals. "There was a shortage of irrigation water and the arrival of rains after a big gap is going help control the damage", said Mansinh Patel, president, Federation of Gujarat State Co-operative Sugar Factories (FGSCSF).

"Arrival of rain has proved to be a boon for those farmers, who were only dependent on rain water", added DU Patel, research scientist, Sugarcane Research Station, Navsari Agriculture University.

As per the data available with agriculture department of the state, nearly 1.95 lakh hectares of land has been brought under sugarcane cultivation in 2009-10 as against 1.65 lakh hectares in 2008-09. The cane output in Gujarat this season is estimated to be 100 lakh metric tonnes, which was at 106 lakh metric tonnes in 2008-09. It may be mentioned here that the production had declined by 27 per cent in 2008-09 as compared to 2007-08.

However, the rains in past couple of days are going to have a major impact on sugarcane yield. "The impact on yield will be negligible. Lack of water availability during the grand growth period has already taken its toll on the yield. The cane production in 2009-10 will be lower as against the previous year", added Dilip Bhakta, chairman, Madhi Sugar Factory.