Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh has reported a drop in cane crushing in 2023-24, indicating a more diversion of sugarcane to local jaggery units.
As per the data from the cane development department, cane crushing fell to 981.68 lakh tonnes in the recently concluded crushing season. This was the lowest cane crushing recorded in the past seven years, despite the state government hiking the state advisory price (SAP) by Rs 20 per quintal earlier this year and operating a maximum of 121 mills.
In 2017-18, 1,111.9 lakh tonnes of cane were crushed, despite ever-increasing cane production. In 2023-24, cane production in the state reached an all-time high of 2,494.20 lakh tonnes, a 4% increase from 2022-23, when 2,394.62 lakh tonnes of cane were produced. Cane productivity also rose from 79.19 tonnes per hectare in 2017-18 to 84.1 tonnes per hectare in 2023-24. Additionally, cane acreage increased from 22.99 lakh hectares in 2017-18 to 29.66 lakh hectares in 2023-24.
Officials are closely monitoring the situation amid state government plans to open new mills and increase the cane-crushing capacities of existing ones.
Data further shows that sugar production in the state decline in the current season. It fell slightly from 104.82 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 to 104.13 lakh tonnes in 2023-24.
Industry experts from UP believe that more sugarcane has been diverted to jaggery units.
