PUNE: The sugarcane crushing season in the State is all set to start from November 22. This date was decided in a meeting held in Mumbai, which was presided by the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
“During the meeting on Tuesday, it was decided that the crushing season will begin from November 22. The crushing season ends normally by April, however, this time, it is likely that the crushing season will end by March 31 as there is less sugarcane,” said DI Gaikwad, Joint Director (Development), State Sugar Commissionerate.
The crushing season got delayed due to the extended rainfall in October and because of the ongoing political crisis in the State. The date of crushing is decided by the committee chaired by the chief minister. The State Sugar Commissioner had proposed November 25 as the starting date for crushing in a letter sent to the State government.
The State is all set to crush 580 lakh tonnes for 2019-2020 and the estimated sugar production for 2019-2020 is 58 lakh tonnes which is 49 lakh tonnes lesser than the last year. The state registered record production of sugarcane of 107.2 lakh tonnes for 2018-2019.
The total area under sugarcane for 2019-2020 is 8.22 lakh hectares as against 2018-2019 which was around 11.62 lakh hectares.
