Karnataka faces acute shortage of sugarcane for the second consecutive year

November 03, 2016 02:57 pm | Updated December 02, 2016 01:13 pm IST - BELAGAVI

R.B. Khandagave, director, S. Nijalingappa Sugar Institute

R.B. Khandagave, director, S. Nijalingappa Sugar Institute

As expected, Karnataka is facing acute shortage of sugarcane availability for the second consecutive year, which is bound to cost the State’s sugar production prospects dearly during the current crushing season 2016-17. This has been caused by the two successive spells of drought and shortage of water in the rivers flowing in the Krishna basin in North Karnataka districts.

After a record production 49.80 lakh MT sugar by crushing around 450 lakh MT at an average recovery of 11.05% during 2014-15, the graph declined the following year with the sugar production falling down to 40.45 lakh MT by crushing 376.65 lakh MT with sugar recovery accounting for 10.74%. About 65 sugar mills in private and co-operative sectors had taken up crushing operations during these two years, R.B. Khandagave, Director, S. Nijalingappa Sugar Institute (SNSI) told The Hindu here on Thursday.

According to an estimate, the 65 working sugar mills are facing a shortage of around 30% of sugarcane availability due to less sowing and less than required growth of the plants. The State’s normal sowing area account for 4.52 lakh ha to 5.0 lakh ha with an average cane yield of around 80 to 100 tonnes per hectare, further yielding an average recovery of 11%. But, this year, cane availability is estimated to be in 3.50 lakh ha. Also, the yield could decline to just 75 to 80 tonnes per hectare and recovery to 10%. The crushing duration could also be reduced from the normal period of about 150 days to just 70 to 80 days. Added to this, around 10 to 15% of the crop is used for seeds and preparation of jaggery.

He said the shortage has been visible since January this year. The water shortage and prevailing drought conditions also discouraged traditional growers from switching over to other crops. Many farmers also avoided sowing ratoon crops due to this.

Tricky situation

The shortage of cane has led to a ticklish situation for the sugar mills, even though the sugar prices are expected to remain at higher level and not less than Rs.3000 per quintal. The mills are looking up for improving productivity for the fact that nearly 80 to 85% of their incomes come from sugar and the remaining from its by-products.

Apparently, the mills are looking for crushing cane of better variety and age so as to get maximum recovery. Also, the shortage could spark off unhealthy competition among the mills, which could encroach upon sugarcane belts outside their registered areas and procure cane from nearby areas in other districts and even neighbouring States.

FRP

Significantly, the farmers continue to be apprehensive about getting a better price for their produce. For the sugarcane growers, the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of Rs.230/quintal linked to a basic sugar recovery rate of 9.5% for the current season has lost its relevance under the prevailing conditions, said National Farmers Organisation president B.P. Sheri. The growers continued to be exploited as the Karnataka government was not willing to announce State Advisory Price (SAP) for sugarcane for the year 2016-17. The last SAP announced in 2013-14.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.