Growth, Varietal Scenario and Seed Production of Sugarcane in India: Status, Impact and Future Outlook

Sugarcane (Saccharum species complex) is an important industrial crop in India, and it contributed 6.8% to the total export earnings from agricultural products during 2020-21. India ranked second after Brazil in terms of area and production of sugarcane and accounted for 17.5% and 19.4% of the global acreage and production, respectively. This paper presents the scenario of sugarcane growth in India during 1950-51 to 2020-21, varietal development, diversity in seed chain and breeder seed production during the last 11 years. The area under sugarcane cultivation increased by 184.2% (1.71 mha in 1950-51 to 4.86 mha in 2020-21), while cane production registered an increase of 599.8% (57.05 MT in 1950-51 to 399.25 MT in 2020-21). An appreciable yield improvement (82.2 t/ha in 2020-21) compared to 33.4 t/ha in (1950-51) could be the major driver for such manifold increase in sugarcane production. The annual compound growth rate in the last decade was 4.67%, 10.33%, 10.70%, 6.78% and 11.71% for cane area, production, yield, sugar recovery and sugar production, respectively. The release and notification of 139 high yielding and high sugar content varieties by Central Sub-committee on Crop Standards, Notification and Release of Varieties for Agricultural Crops since the notification was adapted in 1969, reflect robust sugarcane varietal development programme executed under the aegis of All India Coordinated Research Project on Sugarcane (AICRP-S). About 54.7% (76) of these high yielding varieties have been developed and released during the last 11 years (2011-21). The number of sugarcane varieties grown across 17 states of the country varied from 114 (2011-12) to 146 (2018-19), and Uttar Pradesh had the highest varietal diversity in the seed chain followed by Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra. The breeder seed production from 2010-11 to 2020-21 increased consistently, despite annual fluctuations and was higher by 10.8% in 2011-12 to 95.5% in 2019-20 than that of the base year (2010-11). In the last 11 years, Uttar Pradesh contributed the highest breeder seed production which ranged from 50.1% (2010-11) to 71.8% (2013-14). This status paper discusses the possible impact of the sugarcane varietal development and seed/variety replacement by analysing trends in area, production, yield, foreign exchange earnings through sugar export and net per capita sugar availability during the last decade. Future crop outlook and strategies to bridge the widening gap in sugar demand and supply in the country are also presented.