Punjab's sugar output may go up by 1.66%

Punjab’s sugar production touched 15.4 lakh quintals as on January 15. The crushing season is in progress and the 16 suagr mills in the state are likley to produce 30.70 lakh quintals in the current crushing season which would last till mid March this year.

Also, having already crushed 182 lakh quintals of cane this year, the mills expect to crush 351 lakh quintals of cane. The total estimated area under sugarcane cultivation in Punjab is 85,000 hectares this year while last year it was 70,000 hectares.

According to the data, sugar output in Punjab in the current crushing season is likely to touch 30.70 lakh quintals (3.07 million quintals) as compared to 30.20 lakh quintals (3.02 million quintals) during the year-ago period.

 

Also, the recovery percentage is expected to be 8.75 against last year’s 8.80. Agri-culture experts say this year’s recovery of sugar from cane will be slightly lower due to less rainfall, which is also one of the primary reason for less output.

Considering the recovery percentage the Sugar output in Punjab in the current crushing season would be more or less same as compared to last year, despite increase in area.

While, last year, increase in Sugarcane area in Punjab and better recovery percentage has yielded its results, as the sugar output in the state increased dramatically over the previous year. A senior officials in the cane commissioner said Business Standard that the last year the sugar output in the state touched 30.20 lakh quintal as compared to 18.20 lakh quintals during the previous season.

Furthermore, last year the crop was very good, as 16 sugar mills in the state crushed 343 lakh quintal of sugarcane and the recovery was 8.80 per cent. The increase in output is mainly because of increase in area coupled with expectations of better recovery(of sugar) as compared to last year..

The state has 9 mills in cooperative sector with installed capacity of 15,766 TCD and 7 mills in private sector having installed capacity of 31,000 TCD(tonnes crushed per day).

The Punjab Government had fixed the State Assured Price (SAP) of advanced, medium and late variety of Sugarcane at Rs.230, Rs.225 and Rs.220 per quintal for the crushing season of 2011-12. It may be recalled that the state government had fixed the SAP of advanced, medium and late variety of Sugarcane at Rs.200, Rs.195 and Rs.190 per quintal for the crushing season of 2010-11.