Muzaffarnagar: Jaggery production in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, has been affected due to a decline in sugarcane yield this season. The seven cold storage facilities in Asia’s largest jaggery market are holding 57,000 fewer sacks of jaggery compared to last year. This season, the total storage stands at 1,173,045 sacks.
Despite an increase in sugarcane acreage in the district, production has fallen. Sugar mills have received one crore quintal less sugarcane than usual. This has also impacted jaggery production. On May 8, 2023, the jaggery storage was 12,30,105 sacks. This year, as of May 8, the storage is only 11,73,045 sacks. Both sugar and jaggery production have declined in the district this year.
Sanjay Mittal, President of the Jaggery Market Association, and Shyam Singh Saini, Secretary, stated that 90% of the kolhus (traditional jaggery production units) had closed by the end of April this year. Most sugar mills have also closed in April. Only a few kolhus are operational in the district at present. This has led to an extreme shortage of supply at the end of the season.
