SYLLABUS SECTION: GS III (ECONOMY)

WHY IN THE NEWS?

After a five-year gap, Maharashtra has overtaken Uttar Pradesh (UP) to regain its position as India’s RE-EMERGE AS TOP SUGAR PRODUCER.

KEY DETAILS:

The Reason for the decline in Uttar Pradesh?

• High diversion of sugar cane for making ethanol recently.
• Loss from excess rains and water-logging in low-lying areas of eastern UP.
• The majority of cane area is set-out under a single variety i.e., Co-0238, becoming susceptible to red rot fungal disease.

Sugarcane:

• After Brazil, India is the largest sugar producer globally.
• It requires a hot and humid climate with an average temperature of 21°C to 27°C.
• 75-150 cm rainfall is favorable for sugar cane cultivation.
• Moisture retaining and deep rich loamy soil is ideal for its growth.

Why Sugarcane production is shifting towards South India?

• longer crushing period.
• Adequate rainfall.
• Higher recovery rates.
• Higher sucrose content than northern India.
• Good and multiple transportation access due to port areas etc

What is the Significance of the Sugarcane Industry?

• Molasses from sugarcane is an important nourishment stock for distilleries.
• Source of livelihood for 50 million farmers.
• Emerged as a multi-product crop used as basic raw material for
• production of sugar, ethanol, paper, electricity, and besides a
• cogeneration of ancillary products.

Sugarcane

Temperature: Between 21-27°C with a hot and humid climate.

Rainfall: Around 75-100 cm.

Soil Type: Deep rich loamy soil.

Top Sugarcane Producing States: Uttar Pradesh > Maharashtra > Karnataka > Tamil Nadu > Bihar.

• It can be grown on all varieties of soils ranging from sandy loam to clay loam given these soils should be well-evacuate.
• It is the main source of sugar, gurh (jaggery), Khansari, and molasses.
• Scheme for Extending Financial Assistance to Sugar Undertakings (SEFASU) and National Policy on Biofuels are two of the government initiatives to support sugarcane production and the sugar industry.
• It needs manual labor from sowing to harvesting for Re-emerge as Top Sugar Producer.

Sugarcane Pricing: Sugarcane prices are set-on by:

Central Government: Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)

• The Central Government announces Fair and Remunerative Prices which are determined on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and announced by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
• CCEA is chaired by the Prime Minister of India.
• The FRP is based on the Rangarajan Committee report on reorganizing the sugarcane industry.

State Government: State Advised Prices (SAP)

• The SAP is announced by the Governments of key sugarcane-producing states.
• SAP is generally higher than FRP.

Read more: UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS

Source: Indian Express