At least 42,000 farmers in Muzaffarnagar switched to sugarcane farming in the last five years after the introduction of a new crop variety with a better yield. With the new entrants, the cultivation area of the crop and sugarcane production has also seen a considerable jump.
Now, two lakh farmers are growing cane in comparison to 1.6 lakh in 2015, he said.
According to officials, in the crushing year 2016-17, the recorded sugarcane growing area stood at 1,26,872 hectare which has now reached 1,68,015 hectare in 2021-22.
The cultivation area of sugarcane in the district has increased by 42,596 hectares during the last five crushing years.
As many as eight sugar mills in the district have started preparation for crushing for the 2021-22 season.
The sugarcane farmers had been paid Rs 2,200 crore in 2015-16 by these mills. Now, the last payment was 3,200 crore in 2020-21. The payment of the sugarcane has increased Rs 1,000 crore in five years, the cane officer said.