Maharashtra drought to hit sugarcane production

Output would be 23.7 mn tonnes as compared to 25 mn tonnes in 2012-13

Drought in Maharashtra, the country's biggest sugar producing state, is likely to pull down India's overall production in the 2013-14 crop season (it starts from October) by five per cent. Output would be 23.7 million tonnes as compared to 25 mt in 2012-13, shows a preliminary estimate of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (Isma).

It says sugarcane sowing in the 2013-14 season is expected to be 5.15 mn hectares for the country, 1.5 per cent less than last year, mainly due to drought in Maharashtra. In Uttar Pradesh, despite huge cane payment arrears, Isma says farmers will still be interested in sowing because of high prices in comparison to wheat and paddy. Cane acreage in UP is expected to 3.1 per cent higher than last year. UP and Maharashtra together contribute a little over 80 per cent of total sugar production in the country.

In Maharashtra, sugarcane acreage is expected to fall by 12.5 per cent in 2013-14, with the drought in the main growing areas. Sowing is also down by almost eight per cent in Karnataka due to low rainfall. Isma says the the opening sugar balance for the 2013-14 season will be around eight mt, around two mt more than the usual figure.