BIJNOR: From 28.5 lakh hectares last year to 29.1 lakh hectares this year, cane cultivation area in Uttar Pradesh has registered an increase of 60k hectares.
As a result, a new sugarcane sugar mill has been set up in Noorpur which will start operations from crushing season 2023-24. Besides, crushing capacity of a dozen mills is being enhanced. According to officials, there are 119 mills and at least 50 lakhs sugarcane growers in UP.
According to officials, the previous years’ glut in the processed sugar market owing to over-production is no longer there as large-scale production of ethanol for vehicular fuel consumption compensates for that.
According to additional cane commissioner VK Shukla, “With better payment mechanism for farmer’s dues, farmers are increasingly turning towards this cash crop. Earlier, most mills would produce sugar from cane. But now, ethanol units are manufacturing ethanol too. In UP, a few mills are making ethanol directly from cane juice.”
