Sugarcane crushing to begin on November 25

The government has announced that sugarcane crushing in the state will begin on November 25.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the State Sugarcane Control Board here today. The meeting was chaired by Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian.

Khuddian said Punjab had witnessed a 5 per cent increase in area under sugarcane crop. “This year, sugarcane has been cultivated on 1 lakh hectares, which is up from around 95,000 hectares last year. There are 15 sugar mills in Punjab (nine cooperative and six private mills) which are expected to crush around 700 lakh quintals of sugarcane. The state was projected to produce 62 lakh quintals of sugar this season, he added.

He directed the officials to ensure that all arrangements were in place before the commencement of crushing operations, while emphasising that farmers should not face any inconvenience in selling their produce and getting timely payments.