Cows eat into sugar output in Indian state

Bloomberg

Sugar output in India’s second-biggest producing region will be lower than expected after floods damaged crops and as some farmers sell cane for feed.
Production in the western state of Maharashtra may total 5.2 million to 5.3 million tons in the year starting from October 1, compared with a previous estimate of 6.44 million tons, said Shekhar Gaikwad, the state’s sugar commissioner. The new total is half last year’s 10.7 million tons, according to Gaikwad.
About 100,000 hectares (247,105 acres) out of 843,000 hectares of cane that will be available for crushing next season have been hit by flooding caused by excess rain last month, Gaikwad said. Rain in Maharashtra has been about 30 percent above normal since June 1, according to the weather office.
Prolonged dry weather earlier on caused cattle fodder shortages in the state. That’s helping farmers get attractive returns by selling cane for feed. Cane prices, fixed by the government, generally stay above fodder costs, except in unusual years when poor rains boost feed prices.
India, which vies with Brazil as the top producer, swings between importer and exporter, depending on output.
Farmers in Maharashtra are selling cane in the cattle-feed market for as much as $49 a ton compared with a government-set price of about 2,750 rupees they expect from sugar mills in 2019-20, Gaikwad said. The Maharashtra government will officially release its new sugar output estimate within a week, he said.