State sugar production up 54 per cent in 2009-10

Karnataka’s sugar production has increased 54 per cent to 2.56 million metric tonnes for the sugar year-ended September 2010 compared to 1.66 million tonnes produced during the previous year. Karnataka is the third largest producer of sugar in the country, and contributes about 13.5 per cent of the total sugar production.

During the year, 51 mills were operational in the state. The mills have crushed 23.97 million tonnes of sugarcane during the year,sa growth of 49.3 per cent compared to the previous sugar year. The average recovery of sugar achieved during the year stood at 10.69 per cent as against 10.34 per cent in the previous year, according to the South Indian Sugar Mills Association (SISMA).

The rise in production of sugar is mainly attributed to the liability of cane during the year. Karnataka’s total cane production is estima-ted at 30 million tonnes, almost the same compared to the previous year. Of this, the cane available for sugar mills was 24 million tonnes, while the remaining 6 million tonnes was used for making jaggery and for consumption as fresh juice, SISMA officials said.

The area under cane was marginally higher at 456,000 hectares compared to 452,000 hectares in the previous year. During the sugar year-ended September 2010, the harvestable cane area was also marginally higher at 283,000 hectares compared to 278,000 hectares in the previous year. The remaining 173,000 hectares will be available for harvest during 2010-11 starting October, according to estimates by the state agriculture department officials.

The farmers increased the area under cane due to the higher cane prices offe-red by the sugar mills in the previous year, sugar industry sources said. Mills in north Karnataka have paid Rs 2,350 per tonne of cane, while mills in south Karnataka have paid Rs 1,950 per tonne, which is 81 per cent and 50 per cent higher respectively over the fair and remunerative price (FRP) fixed by the Centre for the year 2009-10.

For the present sugar season (October 2010-September 2011), the SISMA has projected a 25 per cent rise in sugar production at 3.2 million metric tonnes. The mills are likely to crush 30 million tonnes of cane, a rise of about 25 per cent over the previous year. The sugar recovery would be about 10.70 per cent.

Already 14 mills in southern and central parts of the state have commenced production. These include Bannari Amman, Mysugar, Coromandel, NSL, Chamundeshwari, Pandavapura, Vijayanagar Sugar, MPM and Shamanur Sugars among others. Mills in north Karnataka are likely to commence crushing from October 29, which is said to be an auspicious day, the industry sources said.

The mills have announced advance payment of Rs 1,800 per tonne, which is 28 per cent more than the FRP announced by the Centre. This is likely to put pressure on the margins of millers as they don’t expect higher prices for sugar next season due to the excess production in the country.

source: sify