Sugarcane area up by 2 pc so far this year

NEW DELHI, Apr 22: The area under sugarcane in the country rose marginally by 2 per cent to 4.41 million hectares so far this year compared to the year-ago period, according to official data.
Sugarcane has been planted in 44.12 lakh hectare till last week as compared to 43.23 lakh hectare in the year-ago period, an official statement said. Normal area for sugarcane cropping is 47.45 lakh hectare.
Higher area has been reported from Uttar Pradesh (0.82 lakh hectare), Tamil Nadu (0.66 lakh hectare), Maharashtra (0.51 lakh hectare), Karnataka (0.50 lakh hectare), Bihar (0.21 lakh hectare) and Madhya Pradesh (0.14 lakh hectare), it added.
India is estimated to have produced 347.86 million tonnes of sugarcane in the 2011-12 crop year (July-June) as against 342.38 million tonnes in the previous year.
Higher sugarcane crop has helped in increasing the sugar production, which is estimated to rise to 26 million tonnes in 2011-12 marketing year (October-September) from 24.3 million tonnes in the previous year. (PTI)