Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest jump in sugar recovery in the ongoing cane crushing season, surpassing Maharashtra, the leading producer of sugar in the country.According to data released by the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF), UP’s sugar recovery surged from 9.05% in 2024-25 to 9.80% in the current season, an increase of around 8.28%. This was much more than Maharashtra where sugar recovery registered a rise from 8.80% to 9% during the same period, an increase of 2.27%. Gujarat too saw a rise in sugar recovery from 9% to 9.5%. Sugar recovery, however, plunged in Karnataka from 8.50% to 8.05%, according to NFCSF. Millers said the significant improvement in sugar recovery in UP was a result of structural improvement rather than a routine seasonal fluctuation. They said the improvement was driven by better varietal selection, higher sucrose content, and more disciplined harvesting schedules. “This played a key role in higher extraction efficiency,” said a miller. Officials in the cane development department said relatively stable climatic conditions in UP during the growing and crushing phases favoured sucrose accumulation, unlike Karnataka where erratic weather conditions potentially led to deterioration in cane quality. They said improved sugar recovery also resulted from upgradation in milling technologies, better cane preparation and tighter control over delay in crushing. The increase in sugar recovery already led to an increase in sugar production from 42.85 LMT to 45.70 LMT (as on Jan 15). Total sugar production in the ongoing crushing season is expected to touch 105 LMT in 2025-26, almost 13 LMT more than in 2024-25 when 92.75 LMT of sugar was produced in UP. In the case of Maharashtra, it is estimated to go up from 80.95 LMT to 110 LMT. Significantly, the development comes amid a reduction in cane crushing in UP from a little over 473.48 LMT in 2024-25 to 466.33 LMT, data showed. Higher sugar production with lower cane intake improves margins for mills, potentially easing liquidity stress and enabling faster cane payments, a persistent political and economic issue in the state.
