Muzaffarnagar: Sugar mills and traditional jaggery producers (kolhus) in Muzaffarnagar district are facing a shortage of sugarcane, impacting sugar and jaggery production, reported Amar Ujala.
Sugar mills are receiving nearly 100,000 quintals less sugarcane per day compared to their capacity, according to district cane officer Sanjay Sisodia. Even though Kolhus is offering higher prices of ₹375-385 per quintal compared to mills, they are also struggling to procure sufficient sugarcane.
This scarcity has resulted in decline in jaggery production in the district. Traditionally, March sees peak sugarcane crushing season and jaggery storage. However, this year, sugar mills are operating below capacity, processing only 5.5 lakh quintals per day against the usual 6.5 lakh quintals.
Sisodhia attributed the shortage to lower sugarcane yield from farms. The situation is similar for kolhus, impacting jaggery production.
The supply at Asia’s largest jaggery market in Muzaffarnagar has also been hit. Daily arrivals have shrunk from an average of 8,000 sacks to 3,000-4,000 sacks, according to Shyam Singh Saini, secretary of the Jaggery Market Association. Warehouses in the district are also showing a deficit of 1.37 lakh sacks of jaggery compared to last year.
“Jaggery arrivals at the market have halved due to the lower supply of sugarcane to kolhus,” Saini said. Muzaffarnagar supplies jaggery to states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana.
