The US Department of Agriculture has cut its forecast for India's sugar production in the 2026-27 marketing year by 14%, to 29.5 million tonnes on a raw-value basis from 33.6 million tonnes, Rural Voice reports from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service's semi-annual sugar report.
Output is expected to stay among the lowest of recent years, which could widen the gap between India's consumption and production and put more pressure on sugar supplies and prices, the report says.
FAS New Delhi lowered its sugarcane production forecast to 434 million tonnes, about 6% below the earlier 455 million, and trimmed the planted area by less than 1%, from 5.95 million to 5.9 million hectares, as some farmers move to more profitable cash crops.
Field surveys between March and September in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh found strong establishment and healthy growth after two years of above-normal rain. But a severe rainfall deficit this year and long dry spells at critical stages are expected to cut cane weight, yields per hectare and sucrose content, and pressure to start crushing early may lower recovery further.
Untimely rain caused waterlogging in some Maharashtra fields, and in parts of Uttar Pradesh red borer infestations were linked to repeated planting of the same cane variety. The sugar recovery rate is projected at 8.6%, with crushing due to begin in October 2026.
Photo: Honza Soukup / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: Rural Voice
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