'Poor rains may cut sugar output in Maharashtra'

PUNE: Sugar output in Maharashtra, the top producer of the sweetener in the country, is expected to fall 7.5% from a year earlier in the 2015-16 season due to poor rainfall, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said.

The private sugar mills' representative expects the production in Maharashtra to be 97 lakh tonne. According to the preliminary estimate for 2015-16 released by ISMA, the area under sugarcane in Maharashtra is likely to remain at 10.6 lakh hectare. However, yield is likely to be less due to poor rainfall, it said in a press release.

Due to the prevailing droughtlike conditions in the state, cane output is also likely to fall slightly, especially in the Marathwada region. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh, the second-largest sugar producer, is expected to see a 3.5% increase in output at 73.5 lakh tonne due to better cane yields, ISMA said.

"However, the sugar production in UP is estimated to be around 73.5 lakh tonne, which would be about 3.5% more than 71 lakh tonne produced in 2014-15," said the ISMA release.