Floods destroy sugarcane crop on 1 lakh hectares in 3 Maharashtra districts

The recent floods in western Maharashtra damaged sugarcane crop, causing a loss of more than Rs 2,200 crore to the farmers in Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara.

The recent floods in western Maharashtra damaged sugarcane crop on 1 lakh hectares, causing a loss of more than Rs 2,200 crore to the farmers in Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara. With Sangli and Kolhapur alone cultivating around 25% of the total sugarcane crop — on 9.05 lakh hectares — in Maharashtra, the destruction is likely to result in a drop in production of sugar.

The state and centeral government have decided to provide compensation to the flood affected farmers. (HT file photo)

The sugar production in the state in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 has been 4.2 million tonnes, 10.7 million tonnes and 10.1 million tonnes, respectively. In 2019-20, it is expected to drop to 7-7.5 million tonnes owing to the floods and last year’s drought.

“We have begun the panchnamas to assess the loss of the sugarcane in western Maharashtra. The assessment will ascertain the actual loss on the fields that were under water. The preliminary figures are based on the total area under sowing in the flood-affected areas. Around 30% of sugarcane crop in two districts has been hit,” said an official from the Maharashtra Sugar Commissionerate.

However, the damage is unlikely to affect availability of sugar in the state or the country, although Maharashtra is the second-biggest producer of sugar after Uttar Pradesh. In 2018-19, Maharashtra accounted for a third of the country’s sugar production of 32.11 million tonnes. Even after a production dip this year, there may not be shortage of sugar, as the domestic consumption requirement of the country is 26 million tonnes, according to an official from the Maharashtra Sugar Commissionerate.

“We are committed to compensate the farmers for most of their losses. Besides the compensation from the Central government, we have made changes in crop insurance norms for maximum pay-out to the farmers,” said Anil Bonde, state agriculture minister.