Sugar production in Karnataka has hit an all-time high of 3.67 million tonnes during the sugar year-ended September 2011, which is a growth of 49.3 per cent over the previous year. During 2009-10, mills in the state produced 2.45 million tonnes.
Karnataka is the third largest producer of sugar in the country and accounts for about 15 per cent of the country’s sugar production this year. As many as 59 sugar mills crushed 33.61 million tonnes of sugarcane this year, showing a growth of 47.3 per cent over the previous year. During 2009-10 sugar season, mills in the state crushed 22.81 million tonnes of sugarcane, industry sources said.
According to South Indian Sugar Mills Association (SISMA), the rise in production is on account of the expansion of cane area and a rise in production of sugarcane, capacity addition by mills and good recovery. With the addition of two new mills in the state last season, the crushing capacity has risen to 252,500 TCD (tonnes crushed per day).
In terms of sugar recovery, the mills increased sugar recovery by 14 basis points to achieve a recovery of 10.92 per cent as against 10.78 per cent in the previous year. For 2010-11 sugar year, the mills paid Rs 1,800 per tonne to sugarcane farmers in southern parts which is 29.5 per cent more than the fair and remunerative price (FRP) fixed by the Centre for the year. Farmers in the northern parts of the state got Rs 400 extra per tonne towards harvest and transportation costs. The ex-mill price for the millers averaged Rs 25 per kg during the year, SISMA officials said.
Having achieved a record production, the industry body does not expect a big jump during the sugar year. As the state is witnessing drought conditions in over 80 taluks this year, the industry expects a modest growth of 3.5 per cent to 3.8 million tonnes in 2011-12. In terms of cane crushing, the industry expects to crush about 34.6 million tonnes, a growth of about 3 per cent.
“Going by the present indications, we cannot expect the mills to crush more than 36 million tonnes of sugarcane for the current year,” industry sources said.
Area under sugarcane has gone up by 7 per cent to touch 490,000 hectares during the year in Karnataka. Of this, the harvestable area would be around 300,000 hectares during the 2011-12 crushing season.
For the present season, already 12 mills have commenced crushing in southern parts of the state, while mills in northern districts are likely to commence crushing after Diwali festival, the sources said.
The mills in southern parts of the state have announced an advance cane price of Rs 1,900 per tonne, which is 31 per cent higher than the fair and remunerative price (FRP) fixed by the Centre. Mills in northern Karnataka are yet to fix their prices.
