New Delhi: According to a report by U.S. Department of Agriculture attache in New Delhi, the Indian sugar production in 2019-20 is expected to decline 8.4 per cent from the record production of 2018-2019 season to 30.3 million tonnes.
The fall in production is expected because ethanol becomes an increasingly attractive option for sugar mills, area under harvest contracts, and also average sugar recovery rate declines.
The field reports suggest that sugarcane planting in most of the regions in Maharashtra, one of the largest sugar producing states in India, for harvesting in next 2019-20 season is significantly lower than the sugarcane harvested in the current season, and also the water level in the reservoirs has depleted due to less rainfall in the last monsoon season. This indicates that cane acreage in the state will be lower in the coming season. The situation is the same in other states leading to less cane production in the country next year which will ultimately reduce the sugar production.
The mills in the country are developing the capacity to produce ethanol, and the sector would divert excess quantity of ‘B’ heavy molasses to produce ethanol, which will ultimately aid in less sugar production.
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