Cane farmers see decline in production

Parveen Arora

Karnal, February 16

Sugarcane farmers in villages situated along the Yamuna river have witnessed a decline in production, leaving them in distress as they received yields below last year’s average. This year, the farmers received an average production of 370-380 quintals per acre compared to an average of 450 quintals per acre last year.

The low production has left the farmers worried about their livelihoods. They attribute this decline in production to a combination of factors, including heavy rainfall, flooding during cultivation, prolonged winter season, disease and pest attacks.”This year we have witnessed a fall in sugarcane production. On an average, he received around 370 quintals per acre, due to which we are not able to meet even the input cost. The government should compensate the farming community who have suffered losses,” said Manjeet Chaugama, a sugarcane farmer. He added that diseases and pests had also contributed significantly to the losses, along with floods, rainfall, and prolonged winter.

Kewal, another farmer, said this year, he had received an average of 350 quintals of sugarcane. Due to floods and high rainfall, they could not remove weeds from the fields, which also contributed to the decline in production.The adverse weather conditions have adversely affected the growth and development of sugarcane crops. The farmers have faced challenges in managing the crop in these adverse climatic conditions, which have further reduced the yields, said Jaswinder Singh, a farmer from Kalsora village, who has cultivated sugarcane on around 60 acres of land. Floods have covered a layer of mud on the sugarcane fields, which affected the growth, he said, adding that the farmers whose crops are not affected by floods have got a good yield.