Sugarcane Cultivation
For the western part of India’s most populous state, sugarcane farming has not been quite a pleasant vocation in recent years. In a bid to turn things around for the farmer in the fields, Coca-Cola and its partners are working on what is being dubbed as the ‘Meetha Sona’ project.
The project which primarily focuses on the sugarcane growing belt of Western UP looks to enhance capacities and knowledge of farmers towards sustainable cultivation of sugarcane.
Adding to their skillsets they will be trained on good agricultural practices, efficient use of water and smart pest management. The Meetha Sona project Phase IV is a collaborative effort of DCM Shriram, Solidarid and IFC ‘Meetha Sona’ targeting to benefit 125,000 farmers including women farmers within four sugar mills of DCM Shriram 5000 lead farmers will train 15-20 each. The project aims to sensitise 8000 lead farmers on the components of sustainable good agricultural practices.
Interestingly the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh had recently asked sugarcane farmers to make best use of intercropping techniques to increase income by growing oilseeds, pulses, potatoes, and cucumber with cane.
A recent species 0238 has helped boost sugar yield manifold.
Recent reports earlier in the year had suggested that the sugarcane production in Uttar Pradesh this year will increase to 100 lakh tonnes. This given the fact that area under sugarcane has gone up by 12 per cent this year, from 20.54 lakh hectares to 23 lakh hectares.
After the last year’s crushing season, sugar production in the state was 87.73 lakh tonnes.
The sugarcane department has encouraged sowing of crop in August and September as this leads to high crop yield and high sugar content.
Sugarcane dominates the West UP landscape. Called Upper Doab since it falls between Ganga and Yamuna rivers, the region is extremely fertile and supports sugarcane growing, which was once a lucrative crop here.
The state of Uttar Pradesh is India’s largest producer of sugarcane,estimates suggest it is more than a third of the country’s entire output. In 2015-’16, sugarcane purchased by the mills of Uttar Pradesh amounted to Rs 18,000 crores in value.
At a time when most sugarcane producing states pay farmers based on Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) fixed by Centre, Uttar Pradesh still pays more than 25 lakh sugar cane farmers using the SAP method set by the state government.
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