How India's sugar sector managed to shrug off its perpetual cyclical nature

Experts cite three key drivers of what they see as a permanent change in production patterns

Thanks to successive years of production outstripping domestic consumption, the cyclical nature of India’s sugar sector appears to be on the wane, and unless there is nationwide drought or natural calamity, experts have reason to believe that the sugar production in India is undergoing a structural shift.

Gone are the days when sugarcane and sugar production in the country fluctuated widely from one year to another, as farmers shifted from sugarcane to other lucrative crops. And even if they did not shift, the recovery rates and per-hectare yield were not good enough to produce adequate quantities of the sweetener.

In fact,