The Northern Division, one of the top sugarcane producing regions in the country with an annual crop size of about 700,000 tonnes may see a decline of about 35 per cent this season, according to the experts.
Surendra Lal, president of the National Farmers Union said that the two cyclones and continuous wet weather experienced since December has forecasted a drop in production.
“Two cyclones TC Yasa and TC Ana have impacted the North as a result we had continuous wet weather in the last few months which has resulted in a harvest of less cane,” he said.
“The past experiences suggest that whenever crops are damaged due to continuous cyclones, there is a drop in the cane production,” he said.
Lal said, “The farmers were unable to complete preparations for the 2021 season due to the cyclones that have affected the cane output. We have raised the issue as we cannot work out how we can pay the labourers and other costs as we are still not aware of how much we will get per tonne for our cane this year.”
Yogesh Koran, Sugar Ministry permanent secretary said that the forecast price would be announced soon.
