BENGALURU: Karnataka is likely to see less sugar production as the crop yield has come down this year due to drought, said Sugar Development Minister Shivanand Patil.
The state government is also looking to generate power from sugarcane, which eventually is expected to reduce the load-shedding crisis.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Patil said this year, sugar industries will commence cane crushing from October 25. “Normally, sugarcane crushing will start in the first week of November, but this year due to drought, the crop is drying and growers have been requested to take up crushing at the earliest. This is why we have directed sugar industries to take up crushing much before,” he said. He said this has been done as per Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s instruction.
Patil said sugarcane harvesting time is around 11 to 12 months. If the state had received good rain, the yield in November would have been good. But with less rain and water, harvesting of sugarcane is being done in October. This will have an impact on the production of sugar.
He said this year, harvesting of sugarcane in one lakh hectares has come down. “We are anticipating that the sugar quantity might not come to market as expected,” he said. He, however, said this year, they are giving sugarcane for crushing to 75 to 78 industries. “We will be able to generate 1,800 megawatts of power. This is also going to help in the existing load shedding “ he said.
The minister said they are going to make a decision on giving profit from ethanol production to farmers. “We will bring this before the Sugarcane Control Board and take a decision. Last year, we produced 35,000 crore litres of ethanol in the state. This year, it might come down. But we have plans to give profit to farmers from ethanol production,” he added.
On payment to sugarcane farmers, Patil said this year, there are no pending dues. “Bulavaada Basaveshwara sugarcane factory had pending payment of Rs 28 crore, for which we have seized the equipment and distributed the money,” he said.