Cane crushing in India's top sugarcane producing state of Uttar Pradesh has been delayed due to higher water and lower sucrose levels in the standing crop caused by late rains, farm and trade officials said on Tuesday. The lower sucrose level means that none of the mills would start crushing before November 2, he added.
Sugar content in cane has fallen to 5-6 percent from the normal 9 percent level in the state due to unseasonal rains, a Press Trust of India story reported in the Business Standard newspaper said on Tuesday. This year's erratic monsoon has reduced cane area by 17 percent in Uttar Pradesh, which produces about half of India's cane output. India produced 271 million tonnes of sugarcane in the crop year ended June 2009. According to B. Thakur, former secretary of UP Sugar Mills Association, cane crushing could be further delayed to November 10 if the sugar content does not improve.
Comments
Comments are closed.