After a five-year gap, Maharashtra has overtaken Uttar Pradesh to regain its position as India’s top sugar producer. India has produced over 350 lakh tonnes of sugar this year.
Causes behind Maharashtra leading the country
- Maharashtra has been receiving bountiful rainfall since the 2019 southwest monsoon season (June-September). The filling up of reservoirs and recharged groundwater aquifers has induced farmer to plant more area under sugarcane, which is a 12-18 months duration crop.
- The second is higher yields from farmers taking extra care of their crop.
- The third factor for Maharashtra’s sugar production scaling a new peak has to do with a huge jump in “unregistered” cane cultivation. In 2020-21, the state reported a total area of 11.42 lakh hectares planted under cane.
Why lower production in Uttar Pradesh
- The first is an estimated 12.60 lt equivalent of sugar from cane crushed by mills getting diverted for making ethanol this year. Uttar Pradesh has, in fact, become India’s largest ethanol producer, while also achieving the highest blending-in-petrol ratio among all states.
- The second is crop loss from excess rains and water-logging in many low-lying cane-growing areas of eastern UP.
- The third reason is about 87% of UP’s cane area being planted under a single variety, Co-0238. This variety has become susceptible to red rot fungal disease.
Fact-Sheets sugar production
- India has become the largest producer of sugar in the world in the year 2022-23, more than Brazil, while it would be the second largest exporter of sugar.
- India is the second largest exporter of sugar in the world.
- Brazil is the largest producer of sugarcane in the world. India is the second largest producer of sugarcane.
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