Incessant rains and waterlogging has put a spanner on an early start to Maharashtra’s sugarcane crushing season. Mill representatives who spoke to The Indian Express said that crushing would start only after Diwali when harvesting and transportation labour would come to the fields.
Given the prolonged tenure of Maharashtra’s 2021-22 crushing season, sugar commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad had announced that the 2022-23 season would start from October 1. Directions were given to mills to make preparations in this regard.
In 2021-22, crushing season in Maharashtra had lasted till mid-June as 100 lakh tonnes of unregistered cane got added to the previous estimates of the state.
Despite plans for an early start, most mills are yet to begin their operations, given the incessant rains that have led to waterlogging in the fields.
Bhairavnath B Thombare, chairman and managing director of Latur-based Natural Sugar and Allied Industries Limited, said rains have literally forced them to postpone the start of the season. Thombare’s company, which runs two mills in Osmanabad and Yavatmal, had plans to start their season on October 14. However, they had to postpone their plans to October 20 due to the rain. “Even the later date could not fructify as rain have led to severe waterlogging in the fields. The harvesting and transportation labour also did not migrate to the mill area,” he said. Thombare said none of the mills in Marathwada could start due to the heavy rains the area is witnessing courtesy the long tail of the monsoon. “With just a few days left for Diwali, the season will start only after that – in the last week of October,” he added.
In the sugar bowl of Kolhapur and Sangli too, mills have decided to shelve any plans for an early start as rains continue to batter the state.
Industry veteran Vijay Autade felt the crushing season would only start post-Diwali. Cane, he pointed out, was in excess in Marathwada and Solapur but rains in those areas have delayed any chance of an early start. “Also, most of the mills in Marathwada would be reluctant to start early given the majority of cane in their area is either Suru (planted in December-January and harvested in November) or pre-seasonal (planted in September-October and harvested in November- December) variety. So, they would require at least 12-14 months to mature and thus, most mills in that area would prefer to start in November,” he said.
This season, Maharashtra is expected to crush 1,342 lakh tonnes of cane and produce 138 lakh tonnes of sugar.
