ISLAMABAD: The production of sugarcane has declined this year. The major reasons behind the low production are delayed payments to sugarcane farmers and shortage of electricity.
If the current situation persists, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR) fears that farmers would switch over from sugarcane to maize crop.
Sugarcane production has declined by 5.2 per cent during the current year’s crop, reducing to 63 million tonnes against the target of 65m tonnes, official figures released by the MNFSR showed.
The annual meeting of the committee of Agriculture Policy Institute (API) here on Tuesday observed that sugarcane farmers were gradually losing interest in growing sugarcane despite the fact that it is one of the major cash crops of the country.
The shortfall in area target in Punjab and Balochistan was the principal reason for the decline in sugarcane production.
The government had fixed sugarcane production target at 65m tonnes for 2014-15 from an area of 1.13m hectares.
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