Only 191 sugar mills are operational this season in Maharashtra compared with 205 mills last year. The delay in the crushing season has reduced the State’s overall sugar production. By January 2, mills produced 319 lakh quintals of sugar, significantly lower than the 409.9 lakh quintalsproduced by the same time last season.
All operational mills crushed 370.49 tonnes sugarcane compared with 456.33 tonnes last season this time. The recovery rate, too, has gone down from 8.98 per cent to 8.61 per cent this season.
Due to the delay in the crushing season, the harvesting process was delayed by a month. Politicians were keen that sugarcane crushing season should not start before the elections and the season was delayed. During this period, ready-to-harvest sugarcane in many places either dried up or was affected by pests.
Farmers’ claim
Farmers claim that because of this delay, there has been a notable drop in the weight of the cane compared to the traditional crushing season. As a result, the amount of sugar extracted per tonne of cane also dropped, ultimately affecting the overall production numbers of sugar factories.
As of now 96 cooperative and 95 private mills are operational in the state. Solapur division has highest number of operational mills (42) while Amravati and Nagpur divisions have just four and three operational mills, respectively.
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