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Not only has the sugarcane acreage
and sugarcane production been increasing, drawal of sugarcane by the
sugar industry has also been increasing over the years. In India
sugarcane is utilised by sugar mills as well as by traditional users
like gur and khandsari producers.
In early 1980s, the proportion of sugarcane drawn by the sugar industry
was hovering around 35%, which went upto to 50% in 1990s and to as high
as 69% in the year 2002-2003. The sudden growth in 2002-2003 can be
attributed to the fact that sugar prices in this year were very low and
Gur and Khandsari manufacturers could not effectively compete with the
low sugar prices.
In the year 2003-2004, percentage drawal of sugarcane, however,
declined due to rising sugar prices and more intense competition from
the alternate sweeteners - gur and khandsari. Following table gives data
on sugarcane utilization for different purposes.
Sugarcane Utilisation
| %
Sugarcane utilisation for |
| Year |
White sugar |
Gur and khandsari |
Seed, feed and chewing |
| 1980-1981 |
33.4 |
54.8 |
11.8 |
| 1990-1991 |
50.7 |
37.4 |
11.8 |
| 2000-2001 |
59.7 |
28.8 |
11.5 |
| 2001-2002 |
57.4 |
31.5 |
11.1 |
| 2002-2003 |
68.9 |
20.1 |
11.1 |
| 2003-2004 |
56.1 |
32.5 |
11.4 |
(Source: ISMA Website accessed on
May 16, 2005)
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