THE SUGARCANE crushing season will commence on October 15 in Maharashtra. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Monday. This year, the area under sugarcane plantations has increased by 2.55 lakh hectares to 14.87 lakh hectares from 12.32 lakh hectares last year. Easy access to water following a good monsoon encouraged farmers to opt for the cash crop in 2022-23, say officials.
Apart from CM Shinde, deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, leader of opposition Ajit Pawar, Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar, Cooperation and Marketing Minister Atul Save, Ports and Mining Minister Dadasaheb Bhuse and sugar commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad attended the meeting.
With the increase in the acreage of sugarcane plantations, it is estimated production will be 95 tonnes per hectare. The sugar production is expected at 138 lakh tonnes for 2022-23. In 2021-22, sugar production stood at 137.36 lakh metric tonnes. Maharashtra took Uttar Pradesh in sugar production last year.
In the present crushing season around 203 sugar mills will be operational and the crushing season will stretch for 160 days. The FRP, which is the minimum base price fixed by the Centre and is mandatory to be enforced by all states, is Rs 3.050 per metric tonne.