Despite looming threat of El Nino on sugar production and crushing, the sugar production scene looks bright in the country with as many as 463 sugar mills across states taking to sugarcane crushing this year.
Though the US Met Department has warned of the ill-effects of EI Nino on sugar production, the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories has analysed that there is little possibility of adverse effects of El Nino on sugar production and crushing season of 2023-24.
However, the NFCSF President Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar is quoted as saying his organization has estimated the production of 334 lakh tonnes of sugar by the end of the current season 2022-23, which is estimated to be less than 25 lakh tonnes compared to last year’s 359 lakh tonnes of sugar production.
Managing Director of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Prakash Naiknavare says estimated production figures will contribute to keeping the local prices of sugar stable.
According to him, there will be about 60 lakh tonnes of sugar left at the end of the current season, which will be able to meet domestic requirements of two and a half to three months after October 2023.
At the end of February, 2653 lakh tonnes of sugarcane had been crushed which is 102 lakh tonnes more than last year on this date. The new sugar production was 260 lakhs tonnes, which is 7 lakh tonnes more than the production on this date last year.
However, the country’s average sugar recovery has been recorded at 9.78 percent, which is 0.15 percentage points lower than the 9.93 percent sugar consumption recorded on this date last year.
By the end of February, 61 factories in the country have completed their grinding season and it is likely that the grinding season of more than half of the factories in the country will be completed by the end of March, informs a release.
Sugar production is expected to pick up once again from October 23 to September 24 this year. Although the United States Meteorological Department has hinted of the threat of El Nino by the end of July, the dams, water reservoirs and soil moisture due to the excess rainfall last year have been filled, and before the outbreak of El Nino, general rainfall is expected in June/July.
Also, the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories has analysed that there is little possibility of adverse effects of El Nino on sugar production and crushing season of 2023-24.
