Pune: Sugar mills in Solapur district are likely to face a shortage of cane for crushing as the farmers are selling their produce as fodder due to delays in the monsoon, reports The New Indian Express.

 

We fear that the farmers might have diverted 10-15 % of sugarcane to fodder ahead of starting cane crushing season slated to be in October, said Yashwant Kulkarni, Managing director of the Shree Pandurang Cooperative Sugar Mill in Pandharpur taluka.

 

 

The drought-prone district has 38 sugar mills, the highest in any district in the state, and around 200 lakh tonnes of cane grown on 2.5-3 lakh hectares of area is crushed every year.

 

The monsoon has been delayed in the district and the farmers are converting cane crops to fodder to avoid losses due to the lack of water for the irrigation of crops.

 

At present, many farmers of Solapur find economic benefit in selling sugarcane as fodder rather than wait for the crushing season to start.

 

Dairy farmers are paying Rs 2,500/tonne for sugarcane fodder and the deal is profitable for cane farmers at present.