WebinarsNew
Explore Business Standard
Sugarcane
The Uttar Pradesh Sugarcane Research Council, Shahjahanpur, has developed a new high-yielding sugarcane variety named 'Bismil', after freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil, which has now been approved for cultivation in four more states, officials said on Thursday. The variety, earlier approved only for Uttar Pradesh, has received clearance for cultivation in Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan following approval by the central committee, Council Director V K Shukla said. Developed under the All India Coordinated Research Project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the variety is officially designated as CoSha 17231 (Coimbatore-Shahjahanpur). It is resistant to red rot disease, a major threat to sugarcane crops, and has an average yield potential of 86.35 tonnes per hectare with a sugar recovery (pol per cent in cane) of 13.97 per cent, its breeder Dr Arvind Kumar said. Senior scientist Ajay Tiwari said the new variety would significantly boost farmers' incom
With farmers' protesting in the northern districts of Karnataka, demanding a fair price for their produce, the Karnataka government has decided to fix the price Rs 3,300 per tonne of sugarcane, yielding a recovery of 11.25 per cent, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday. The CM also appealed to protesting sugarcane farmers to cooperate accepting the new price, and withdraw the agitation. Sugarcane farmers' protest at Gurlapur Cross in Mudalagi taluk of Belagavi district demanding a procurement price of Rs 3,500 per tonne of sugarcane entered ninth day on Friday. It has also spread across various parts of north Karnataka districts like Belagavi, Bagalkote, Vijayapura, Haveri among others. With the protest intensifying, CM Siddaramaiah called for a meeting with farmer leaders and representatives of sugar factories on Friday. "The Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent of Police (SP) of Belagavi district had offered Rs 3,100 per tonne of sugarcane yielding a recovery of 10.2
The sugarcane growers' protest in Belagavi district demanding a minimum support price of Rs 3,500 per ton for their produce has gathered momentum. Farmers, under the banner of the Hasiru Sene Farmers Association, have rejected the Rs 3,200 per ton offer from sugar mills. The agitation has brought operations to a halt at 26 sugar factories across the region, with protesters vowing not to settle for anything less than their demand. All the business establishments in Mudalagi remained shut as farmers gathered in huge numbers. The protests, which initially began with the demands for State Advisory Price (SAP) for sugarcane, have now spread to Athani, Chikkodi, Hukkeri, Bailhongal, Mudalagi, Gokak and neighbouring areas. In Gokak town, the agitation took a new turn as students joined farmers in staging roadblocks at key intersections, throwing traffic out of gear on major routes connecting Belagavi, Savadatti, Mudalagi and Yaragatti. Protesting farmers have urged the state government t
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) could bring down the need of water in sugarcane farming by 50 per cent and increase the per acre produce by nearly 30 per cent, an expert in the field said on Wednesday. Notably, a meeting was recently held in Pune in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and former Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar where the use of AI in sugarcane farming was discussed. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Vasantdada Sugar Institute and Agricultural Development Trust was signed to explore ways to ensure this technology reaches as many farmers as possible. "Microsoft has already worked for a long time on the use of AI for sugarcane cultivation and is assuring 30 per cent growth in sugarcane production and curtailing water usage (in its farming) to half. This will help to run the sugar mills for a longer time (more than 110 days) and losses will also be less," Maharashtra State Co-Operative Sugar Factories Federation Ltd