Sugar mills in Maharashtra have been warned by the state sugar commissioner not to end cane crushing operations without prior notice to the farmers and informing the commissionerate.
State sugar commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said that the step has been taken to ensure that the sugarcane cultivated on the 12.32 lakh hectares is crushed completely before the end of the crushing season.
Sugar mills in the state have so far crushed 860.98 lakh tonnes of sugar and produced 879.10 lakh quintals of sugar. As many as 197 sugar mills have participated in the crushing season that began on October 15, 2021.
He said, “We have asked the mills to issue a two-week notice to farmers through public channels before closing the crushing operation. The mills have been asked to complete crushing of the available cane in their area and if they are not able to crush all the cane then they should coordinate with the nearby sugar mills.”
