2020, Volume 23, Paper 6

ISSN: 2209-6612

The Sugar Value Chain in India

Sukhraj Singh – Postgraduate student, Masters of Global Food and Agriculture Business, University of Adelaide, Adelaide.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Indian sugarcane value chain to understand why cane farmers have accumulated huge losses and why sugar mills are unable to pay them for their produce. The current balance of arrears to cane suppliers was some $US2.8 billion in February, 2019. Also discussed is the Indian sugar industry’s inability to compete globally despite being a major producer. Both the sugarcane production and sugar processing industries are highly regulated by the government, but due to obsolete policies that distort profit along the value chain, these industries are on the verge of collapsing. Sugarcane production has been separated from sugar processing in this paper, so that an analysis of the production sector can determine its limitations and suggest recommendations to improve the situation.

Key words: Sugarcane, value chain, India, Fair Remunerative Price, productivity, trade.

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