The last few years have been uncharacteristically good for the Indian sugar sector for a variety of reasons. While on the one hand, the weather supported good crop production; on the other hand, the programme to blend ethanol with petrol took off in a big way. The long-pending problem of burgeoning sugarcane arrears almost came down to nil and exports boomed to record highs.
Presently director at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research's Sugarcane Breeding Centre in Coimbatore, Bakshi Ram's next target is to improve both cane yields and sucrose content in cane varieties cultivated beyond the Vindhyas in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as also Maharashtra.
The production in Maharashtra is pegged higher at 11-11.5 million tonnes against 10.71 million tonnes
'The government is of the view that distilleries around Hapur and Bijnor would pollute groundwater in the vicinity and its spill over into the sacred Ganga. Hence, we are looking to close these distilleries to prevent them from discharging water into the open area,' said a senior UP government official.
Nitin Tyagi is a young farmer in Budhagaon village of Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh. A few years ago, Tyagi left his fairly lucrative job in the medical industry and shifted base to his ancestral village to look after his land and property. He opened a small shop selling farm inputs in the village and also started taking a greater interest in agricultural matters which had so far been looked after by his father and uncles. Tyagi and his brothers primarily grow sugarcane, potato and wheat on nearly 10 acres of land with sugarcane taking up most of his time and effort. Being one of the most important and lucrative cash crops of the region, sugarcane is directly linked to the fate of millions of farmers in west UP and with it, the electoral fortunes of political parties seeking their votes in the coming assembly polls.
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