NEW DELHI – Immature sugarcane crop has come as a saving grace for Maharashtra farmers, who have been facing an acute shortage of cattlefeed for their livestock due to a severe drought and worst water shortage in nearly three decades.
"This year because of severe drought, there is no availability of fodder anywhere, and therefore, the only crop visible is sugarcane which is being used for fodder," National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Managing Director Prakash Naiknavare said.
Maharashtra, the second largest producer of sugarcane in the country, has declared drought in 151 tehsils across 26 districts, covering almost half the state, as monsoon rains were 8% below normal and there were hardly any rains in the last two months of the monsoon season.
Water is nearing its critical levels in Marathwada, Solapur, Satara and Latur, forcing authorities to restrict supplies only for drinking in some areas.
Low rains led to a decline in the state's crop output this year, which made it tougher for farmers as well as fodder camps to source fodder for cattle.
To provide shelter to thirsty and hungry animals, Maharashtra is running over 1,200 fodder camps that cater to more than 800,000 animals.
Shortage of fodder has led to a surge in prices of fodder. The price of dry fodder has shot up to 18-20 rupees a kg, nearly double on year, while green fodder is sold for 8-10 rupees a kg, as against 5-6 rupees at the same time last year, a Pune-based fodder supplier said.
Cattle farms as well as fodder camps run by the state government are finding it difficult to source fodder even at high prices, and they are now asking farmers to supply ratoon, the supplier said.
For cane farmers, harvesting the immature ratoon crop is an attractive proposition. Fodder camps are currently offering 4-5 rupees a kg for sugarcane, which is higher than the 3 rupees a kg farmer got from mills in instalments in the just-concluded crushing season.
Even if cane prices go up next season, farmers are concerned that they may not have enough water to irrigate cane fields and sustain the crop till the start of the crushing season in Oct-Nov.
While India Meteorological Department has forecast Jun-Sep rainfall at 96% of long-period average, private forecaster Skymet expects the rains at 93% of average. Many international weather agencies have also warned of drier-than-normal monsoon in India.
If the onset of monsoon is delayed, or rains actually play a spoilsport, diversion of cane for fodder could increase. Farmers would rather harvest it now and sell it as fodder instead of leaving it to dry and wilt in fields, and sell for a similar price in a few months, the Pune-based supplier said.
"Prices (of fodder) will continue to rise and if there are no rains in the month of Jun-Jul then it may also become astronomical… farmers will have to take a call whether it is a sensible thing to retain the cane or if today, there is another alternate use for it in terms of fodder," said Sanjay Khatal, the managing director of Maharashtra State Co-operative Sugar Factories Federation.
Going ahead, this higher diversion of sugarcane to fodder may cast a shadow over next year's sugar output in the state.
In 2012-13, the last time there was a fodder scarcity of this scale, large quantity of cane were diverted to fodder in the state, leading to 11% decline in the state's sugar output.
According to state government estimates, Maharashtra produced 95.18 mln tn sugarcane in 2018-19 (0ct-Sep), against 95.01 mln in the tn last season, of which nearly half was left in the fields after harvesting for the next season's ratoon.
Trade estimates already peg Maharashtra's sugar output in 2019-20 (Oct-Sep) at 7.5-8.0 mln tn, sharply lower than 10.7 mln tn produced this year, as cane sowing is seen hit due to drought.
If part of the leftover cane crop, too, is diverted for fodder, the fall in the state's sugar output could be sharper.
It could also pull down India's sugar production further from the current 2019-20 estimate of 27-28 mln tn, which is anyway lower than this year's estimated production of 33 mln tn.