TAD News Desk, New Delhi: Several parts of Maharashtra’s cane belt have been heavily hit by rains, which would cause a delay in the cane crushing by sugar factories, told one senior functionary of the factory.
J.P Dandegonkar, the chairman of the state cooperative sugar factories federation, told PTI that heavy rain was recorded in the region. Still, they hadn’t affected the Sugarcane crop, yet the delay is expected due to the disruption of roads and other infrastructure near factories.
Dandegaonkar further added the crushing would begin once normalcy is restored. Of the assigned date for crushing, 15 Oct, 2020, only a handful of the factories in cooperative were able to start the crushing. However, by November start the crushing season would begin in full fledge. Only 25-30 of 100 cooperatives and 90 private companies began their operation by 15 Oct.
Estimates are around 100 lakh tones of more production of canes in the state from 900 lakh tones of the last year.
He also talked about the meetings between labor associations and sugar factories’ management regarding the wage hike of laborers, but no agreement has been agreed upon yet.
Last week, heavy rains and floods damaged lakh hectares of crop and killed around 48 lives (estimated) in the region of Pune, Aurangabad, and Konkan divisions.
