Crushing season begins at Karnal Cooperative Sugar Mill

The Haryana Cooperative and Tourism Minister, Dr Arvind Sharma, started the 49th crushing season of the Karnal Cooperative Sugar Mill on Tuesday with a traditional havan-yajna ceremony.

After the ritual, Dr Sharma initiated the process by feeding sugarcane into the crushing machine.

During the event, Dr Sharma assured farmers that they would face no difficulties at the mill and promised them timely payments for their produce. He said the Haryana Government was providing the highest sugarcane price in the country and highlighted the district’s achievement of cultivating sugarcane across 232 villages.

“The sugar mill is currently operating profitably, thanks to the hard work of farmers and mill administration, earning it three awards to date,” said Dr Sharma. He said realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India a developed nation by 2047 required participation from all sections of society. He also praised Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for driving the state’s development forward.

Highlighting employment initiatives, Dr Sharma mentioned that the government recently distributed appointment letters to 26,000 youths and had abolished the kharchi-parchi system, offering jobs based on merit. He announced plans to provide employment to an additional two lakh youths.

Chairman of Haryana Sugarfed, Dharamveer Dagar, said the mill had set a target of crushing 50 lakh quintals of sugarcane this season, with a recovery rate target of 10.01%. Last season, the mill crushed 49.34 lakh quintals of sugarcane, producing 4.90 lakh quintals of sugar with a recovery rate of 9.95%.

Dagar appreciated the farmers’ efforts and urged them to bring clean sugarcane to the mill to ensure better recovery rates. He noted that the introduction of the online token system had significantly saved farmers' time.

Sugarcane cultivation in the mill area covered 22,658 acres this year, with 71% early-maturing and 29% mid-season varieties. The mill had been recognised 21 times for its achievements in sugarcane recovery and development.

Three farmers—Krishna from Khirajpur, Netrapal from Dilwara and Sohan Lal from Chorpura—were honoured during the event. The mill’s managing director, Hitendra Kumar, welcomed the chief guest and highlighted the mill’s achievements, while Rajpal Lather expressed gratitude to the attending farmers and dignitaries.