INDIA: Ag chief sees 2010/11 sugar production at 24 million tonnes
Published: 09/08/2010, 10:52:31 AM
Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Tuesday the country was likely to produce around 24 million metric tonnes of sugar in the upcoming 2010/11 harvest as it swings into a surplus from being a major importer last year, according to Reuters.
Pawar told Reuters in an interview in Mexico City that there would be around 4 million tonnes of carry-over stocks from the previous cycle but could not say how much India may export.
"There was rain throughout India, except for one or two states, and that rain was quite convenient and helpful for various crops .... There will definitely be a (sugar) surplus," Pawar said on his first stop of a three-country tour of Latin America.
The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has estimated the country's sugar production at 25.5 million tonnes in 2010/11 compared with 18.8 million tonnes in the current year ending in September.
Pawar said the Indian government is committed to helping neighboring Pakistan, hit by the worst flooding in decades, but he would not specify how much sugar, cotton or wheat might be sent to the country.
"We have not yet decided (on sugar exports). It is too early to say. Our season starts sometimes in October let us see how the season goes," he said. Pawar declined to give estimates on India's other major crops.