Due to non-availability of sugarcane, sugar mills start closing early in UP, Uttarakhand
According to information received from the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), till March 15, as many as 18 sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh have stopped crushing operations, whereas mine sugar mills were closed by the same period last year. In the last two-three days, many sugar mills in UP have ended their session. Most of the sugar mills are likely to be closed by the end of March this year
Ajeet Singh
This year, due to lack of sufficient sugarcane supply, sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have started closing early. Sugar mills are not able to get sugarcane to continue crushing, hence keeping the sugar mills running is a loss-making deal.
According to information received from the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), till March 15, as many as 18 sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh have stopped crushing operations, whereas mine sugar mills were closed by the same period last year. In the last two-three days, many sugar mills in UP have ended their session. Most of the sugar mills are likely to be closed by the end of March this year.
At the same time, the crushing season in Maharashtra may drag on for a long time. Compared to last year, less than half of the sugar mills there have stopped crushing this year. In Maharashtra, 73 sugar mills have stopped crushing till March 18, whereas by this time in the last season, 148 sugar mills had stopped crushing.
According to ISMA, till March 15 this year, as many as 371 sugar mills were operating in the country whereas last year till this day 325 sugar mills were crushing cane. At present, while more sugar mills are crushing cane in the country than last year, the season of sugar mills is ending early due to shortage of sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh, the major sugarcane producing state of the country.
More sugar mills, less sugarcane
As of March 15, as many as 102 sugar mills were operating in UP, whereas by this date last year, 108 sugar mills were crushing. A total of 121 mills operated in the state this year, whereas last year 117 mills had crushed. Thus, this year the total number of sugar mills in UP is more but due to lack of sugarcane supply, the crushing season has started closing in March itself.
Despite more sugar mills running, the country's sugar production has declined. The reason for this is the impact of rain, flood and disease on the sugarcane crop. This has affected sugarcane production and recovery. The country's total sugar production till March 15 was 280.79 lakh tonnes which was 282.60 lakh tonnes till the same date last year. Thus sugar production has decreased by about two lakh tonnes.
Sugarcane affected by rain, flood and disease
Rahul Singh, a farmer of Kanha Nangla village in Bijnor district, says that earlier this year sugarcane was affected by excessive rain and floods. Then the crop suffered from many diseases. The highly successful sugarcane variety 0238 has become diseased due to which the yield has decreased. This year, jaggery and khandsari industry gave good prices to the farmers, due to which the sugar mills got less sugarcane.
To increase the arrival of sugarcane, this year sugar mills had to go to every village and appeal to the farmers. By the end of February, many sugar mills faced a “no cane” situation and had to stop operations in the second week of March. The crushing target of sugar mills has also not been met this year.
Many mills stopped crushing
Todarpur and Bidvi sugar mills of Saharanpur district were closed on February 25 this year. Gagalheri sugar mill, which was running till April, was closed this time on March 12. The crushing season of Sarsawa Sugar Mill, which ran till May 13 last year, ended on March 14.
Due to less sugarcane availability, Laksar Sugar Mill of Uttarakhand had issued a notice to close the crushing session on March 13 by buying free sugarcane at the mill gate on March 8. The mill management says that for the last 15-20 days the sugar mill is getting much less sugarcane than the demand. Therefore the weighing centers in the rural areas were closed.
Puranpur sugar mill in Pilibhit district of UP was closed on May 17 due to lack of adequate sugarcane supply. Bisalpur Sugar Mill has announced to stop crushing from March 19. The crushing season of Sahaspur Sugar Mill in Moradabad will also end on March 19.
