Extended monsoon may delay Maharashtra’s 2022-23 sugarcane crushing season

Pune: A prolonged monsoon is expected to delay the beginning of Maharashtra’s 2022-23 sugarcane crushing season by at least a fortnight.

The state is staring at yet another year of record production, delay in crushing operations can become an administrative challenge with political implications.

“We wanted to start crushing operations from October 1. However, the government allowed us to start crushing from October 15. However, it is difficult to begin crushing now as harvesting is not possible in wet fields. If the area under sugarcane is the same as last year, we may face a similar situation as the previous year,” said Sanjay Khatal, managing director, Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation.

Kolhapur-based sugar broker Ghorpade said, “If it doesn’t rain hereafter, we can expect the mills to begin operations from November first week.”

The prolonged rainfall is good for increasing the per acre yield of sugarcane.

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