The Hindu Business Line : Floods unlikely to hit sugarcane

Floods in Maharashtra's cane belt of Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara are not expected to significantly alter the sugar production scenario for the ensuing 2006-07 crushing season (October-September).

"We see production falling by 1 lakh tonnes (lt)-1.25 lt at the most. So, it does not really impact our current estimate of 69 lt-72 lt for the State," said Mr Prakash Naiknavare, Managing Director, Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation.

The floods have been mainly due to the excess release of water from the Koyna and Ujni dams, as a result of which the Panchganga, Krishna and Bhima rivers are in spate.

"It is the standing cane crop on the river banks that has been affected because of being three-fourths or even fully submerged for the last 4-5 days. Wherever this has taken place, there may be some damage arising from suffocation and inadequate respiration," Mr Naiknavare noted.

During the coming season, the three southern districts are slated to together produce 24.50 lt of sugar or 35 per cent of Maharashtra's total projected output.

Of this, Kolhapur's share is 11.70 lt, while being 6.90 lt for Sangli and 5.90 lt for Satara.

"Since it is only the crop on the river banks that has been hit, we don't see this bringing down production by more than 5 per cent or 1.25 lt," he claimed.

Moreover, on the positive side, the current rains have helped `wash away' the woolly aphid pests that were threatening to make a comeback after 2002.

"We were getting reports of woolly aphid incidence in some cane-growing areas because of the long gap after the first showers. But now, that problem will not surface and would actually compensate for the loss due to floods," he added.

Meanwhile, the Ministers' Committee under the Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, met in Mumbai on Wednesday to take stock of the extent of damage to the standing cane crop.

It was decided at the meeting that in view of the bumper crop, mills would start crushing from October 1, which is about 15 days ahead of the normal schedule.

The 153 factories in the State to take season this time would crush 630 lt of cane, yielding 72 lt of sugar on an average recovery of 11.5 per cent.

More Stories on : Sugar | Natural Calamities | Maharashtra

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