The total sugarcane acreage on the basis of the September 2014 satellite images has been estimated at 52.94 lakh hectares, 1 per cent lower than last year, according to the Indian Sugar Mills’ Association (ISMA).

Maharashtra

Advance estimates by ISMA have placed the total cane acreage in Maharashtra at 10.41 lakh hectares, about 11 per cent higher than last year. Adsali and pre-seasonal cane varieties are reported in a larger area compared with last year, and since this gives better yields and recovery compared with the 12-month crop, it is expected that cane yields and sugar recovery in Maharashtra will be better than last year, the sugar producers’ body said in a release.

It is on this basis that ISMA has estimated sugar production from Maharashtra at around 93 lakh tonnes in the 2014-15 sugar season, about 20 per cent higher than last year’s 77.11 lakh tonnes.

Uttar Pradesh

Cane acreage reported from Uttar Pradesh is around 23.07 lakh hectares, about 8 per cent less than last year, it said. Overall, cane acreage is likely to be better in UP, whereas sugar recovery may be the same as last year because of the balance brought about by less rainfall in Western UP and good monsoon showers in Central and Eastern regions.

Accordingly, ISMA has estimated that about 60 lakh tonnes of sugar will be produced by the UP mills, down 8 per cent on last year’s 65 lakh tonnes. Incidentally, UP mills still have to clear arrears due to cane growers.

Karnataka

Karnataka is estimated to have about 4.9 lakh hectares of acreage under cane, about 2 per cent higher than last year. “The State has more acreage under the pre-seasonal cane varieties, which usually give better yields and recoveries as compared to normal varieties. Therefore, it is estimated that about 44.5 lakh tonnes of sugar will be produced by Karnataka mills, which is around 7 per cent higher than the 41.5 lakh tonnes expected to be produced in the current sugar season,” ISMA said.

Tamil Nadu

Due to poor rainfall in Tamil Nadu and a drought-like situation, overall cane acreage has been hit. As a result, around 2.5 lakh hectares are expected to come under cane cultivation, about 12-13 per cent less than last year. “The lack of water at crucial stages of crop growth will also adversely impact sugarcane yields and sugar recovery. Therefore, it is estimated that the State will produce around 11 lakh tonnes of sugar in 2014-15, about 20 per cent less than last year,” it said.

Sugar output from Gujarat is expected to be around 12 lakh tonnes, and around 10 lakh tonnes from Andhra Pradesh, the same as last year. Production in States such as Bihar, Punjab and Haryana is estimated to be at almost the same level as last year, due mainly to the cane acreage being almost similar.

ISMA estimates in July 2014 for sugar season 2014-15 placed production at 253 lakh tonnes based on higher acreage in Maharashtra and Karnataka, even though the all-India cane acreage this year is lower than last year.

The sugar producer’s body said it would review this first advance estimate in October 2014, once there was clarity on the impact of monsoon. As of now, due to the erratic monsoon and difficulties in making a correct assessment of its impact, it has estimated production for the 2014-15 sugar season at around 250-255 lakh tonnes.

ISMA said in the last financial year, about 21.1 lakh tonnes of sugar was dispatched from mills for exports, of which about 55 per cent was raw sugar and the rest refined/white sugar and about 7 lakh tonnes under the export incentive scheme.

“ISMA is estimating 72-75 lakh tonnes of sugar opening stocks on October 1, 2014, which is about 25 lakh tonnes higher than what the country needs till the time new production of 2014-15 comes into the market,” a release said.

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