3 days ago
State cane department takes steps to protect sugarcane crop from diseases in UP
PILIBHIT: The state sugarcane commissioner has directed district cane officers, sugar mill officials, and cane development councils to launch a large-scale survey to detect diseases in sugarcane crops across
Uttar Pradesh
.
The move follows a massive infestation of red rot disease during the 2024-25 crushing year, which reduced cane supplies to mills, lowered crushing levels, and cut both sugar production and the recovery rate.
Cane commissioner Ministhy S. said on Wednesday that, apart from red rot, 'The cane crop in many pockets of the state is affected by root rot and root borer, along with infestations of white grub and whitefly due to waterlogging during the monsoon.
Officials have been told to provide crop protection advice, essential pesticides, and other chemicals at farmers' doorsteps across the state.'
Sugarcane is grown in about 30 lakh hectares across 45 districts in UP. In 2024-25, the area under cultivation was 29.5 lakh hectares. The state's 122 sugar mills crushed 956.1 LMT (lakh metric tonnes) of sugarcane, down from 977.8 LMT in 2023-24, mainly because of red rot.
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The disease also reduced the sugar recovery rate from 10.6% in 2023-24 to 9.7% in 2024-25, bringing total sugar production down from 103.6 LMT to 92.7 LMT.
The commissioner said scientists from the Sugarcane Research Institute and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) have been tasked with monitoring disease infestations in fields and guiding farmers on preventive measures through village meetings.
In Pilibhit, KVK plant physiologist Dr. Shailendra Singh Dhaka said, 'A few sugarcane pockets in the district have so far been affected by Pokkah Boeng disease, which kills the spindle and potentially hampers bud sprouting.' Pilibhit produces sugarcane on 1 lakh hectares.
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