ISLAMABAD: The country’s sugarcane production has decreased by 5.2 per cent to 63 million tonnes against the target of 65 million tonnes for 2014-15 from the area of 1.13m hectares, official figures released by the MNFSR has showed.
The Agriculture Policy Institute’s (API) annual meeting on Tuesday observed that sugarcane farmers were reluctant to grow sugarcane due to delay in payments. The government had fixed sugarcane production target at 65m tonnes for 2014-15 from an area of 1.13m hectares.
Overall, in terms of area, the decline was 4.1pc, and 1.1pc in terms of yield. The most significant decline was recorded in Punjab where area under cultivation declined by 9.6pc, consequently, production also declined by 9.1pc. On the other hand, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa achieved the yield targets except Balochistan which faced a decline of 4.3pc.
