SUGARCANE

Preface
With a robust agro potential the Country has, the Government of India has launched the One District
One Focus Product Scheme (ODOFP) for agriculture sector by the Ministry of Food Processing
Industries. Among its primary objectives, the ODOFP initiative aims to enhance the value of the
products which is eventually expected to boost employment and income levels of the farmers. The
identified products across the country is available at
https://www.nfsm.gov.in/odopstatecropsreport.aspx

Karnataka has identified its product mix with high demand and export potential across all the districts.
The implementing agency for this initiative is the Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and
Export Corporation Limited (KAPPEC), the nodal agency in the State.

VTPC being the nodal agency for promotion of exports from the State has made an attempt to draw the
action plan district wise, to capture the potential, present status and future prospects in domestic and
international markets. Besides, detailed insights have been provided into the biological description of
the product, their local, national and international varieties, export-import analysis, HS codes. For a
holistic perspective for those concerned, each report also provides SPS standards, processing
technologies available, export grading and packing specifications, and suggested pivotal roles and
responsibilities among the government departments, boards, corporations and Universities.

Presenting the Action Plan/Report for Sugarcane, a ODOFP product mapped to Belagavi district of
Karnataka, formulated by VTPC. I sincerely hope that this ready reckoner with first-hand information
regarding the farming sector would help all those concerned, especially the FPOs and food processing
entrepreneurs who have a desire to focus on exporting this product.

S.R Satheesha
Director (Exports) & Managing Director
 17

Organisations working on Sugarcane

17 Regulators and Service providers

1
 Sugarcane - Sweet business

Introduction
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus Saccharum,
tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout,
jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sucrose, which accumulates in the stalk internodes. . A mature
stalk is typically composed of 11–16% fiber, 12–16% soluble sugars, 2–3% non-sugar carbohydrates, and
63–73% water. Sugarcanes belong to the grass family, Poaceae, an economically important flowering
plant family that includes maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum, and many forage crops. It is native to the
warm temperate and tropical regions of India, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea. The plant is also
grown for biofuel production, especially in Brazil, as the canes 0can be used directly to produce ethyl
alcohol (ethanol).

Grown in tropical and subtropical regions, sugarcane is the world's largest crop by production
quantity, totaling 1.9 billion tonnes in 2020, with Brazil accounting for 40% of the world total. Sugarcane
accounts for 79% of sugar produced globally (most of the rest is made from sugar beets). About 70% of
the sugar produced comes from Saccharum officinarum and its hybrids. All sugarcane species can
interbreed, and the major commercial cultivars are complex hybrids. About 70% of the sugar produced
globally comes from S. officinarum and hybrids using this species.

The stems grow into cane stalk, which when mature, constitutes around 75% of the entire plant. A
sugarcane crop is sensitive to climate, soil type, irrigation, fertilizers, insects, disease control, varieties,
and the harvest period. The average yield of cane stalk is 60–70 tonnes per hectare (24–28 long
ton/acre; 27–31 short ton/acre) per year, but this figure can vary between 30 and 180 tonnes per
hectare depending on knowledge and crop management approach used in sugarcane cultivation.
Sugarcane is a cash crop, but it is also used as livestock fodder. Sugarcane genome is one of the most
complex plant genomes known, mostly due to interspecific hybridization and polyploidization.

Sugarcane Processing
Traditionally, sugarcane processing requires two stages. Mills
extract raw sugar from freshly harvested cane and "mill-white"
sugar is sometimes produced immediately after the first stage at
sugar-extraction mills, intended for local consumption. Sugar
crystals appear naturally white in color during the crystallization
process. Sulfur dioxide is added to inhibit the formation of
color-inducing molecules and to stabilize the sugar juices during
evaporation.

Milling
Sugarcane processing produces cane sugar (sucrose) from
sugarcane. Other products of the processing include bagasse,
molasses, and filter cake.
Bagasse, the residual dry fiber of the cane after cane juice has
been extracted, is used for several purposes.
• fuel for the boilers and kilns
• production of paper, paperboard products, and reconstituted
panelboard
• agricultural mulch
• as a raw material for production of chemicals
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The primary use of bagasse and bagasse residue is as a fuel source
for the boilers in the generation of process steam in sugar plants.
Dried filter cake is used as an animal feed supplement, fertilizer, and
source of sugarcane wax.

Molasses is produced in two forms: blackstrap molasses (with a

characteristic strong flavor) and a purer molasses syrup. Blackstrap
molasses is sold as a food and dietary supplement. It is also a
common ingredient in animal feed, and is used to produce ethanol,
rum, and citric acid. Purer molasses syrups are sold as molasses, and
may also be blended with maple syrup, invert sugars, or corn syrup.
Both forms of molasses are used in baking.

Ethanol is generally available as a byproduct of sugar production. It

can be used as a biofuel alternative to gasoline and is widely used in
cars in Brazil. It is an alternative to gasoline, and may become the
primary product of sugarcane processing, rather than sugar. The
production of ethanol from sugarcane is more energy efficient than
from corn or sugar beets or palm/vegetable oils, particularly if cane
bagasse is used to produce heat and power for the process.
Furthermore, if biofuels are used for crop production and transport,
the fossil energy input needed for each ethanol energy unit can be
very low.

Sugarcane as food

• Sayur nganten: An Indonesian soup made with the stem of

trubuk (Saccharum edule), a type of sugarcane
• Sugarcane juice: a combination of fresh juice, extracted by hand
or small mills, with a touch of lemon and ice to make a popular
drink, known variously as air tebu, usacha rass, guarab, guarapa,
guarapo, papelón, aseer asab, ganna sharbat, mosto, caldo de
cana, or nước mía.
• Syrup: a traditional sweetener in soft drinks, now largely
supplanted in the US by high fructose corn syrup, which is less
expensive because of corn subsidies and sugar tariffs.
• Jaggery: a solidified molasses, known as gur, gud, or gul in South
Asia, is traditionally produced by evaporating juice to make a
thick sludge, and then cooling and molding it in buckets. Modern
production partially freeze dries the juice to reduce
caramelization and lighten its color. It is used as sweetener in
cooking traditional entrees, sweets, and desserts.
• Falernum: a sweet, and slightly alcoholic drink made from
sugarcane juice.
• Cachaça: the most popular distilled alcoholic beverage in Brazil;
it is a liquor made of the distillation of sugarcane juice.

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• Rum is a liquor made from sugarcane products, typically molasses,
but sometimes also cane juice. It is most commonly produced in the
Caribbean and environs.
• Basi is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane juice
produced in the Philippines and Guyana.
• Panela, solid pieces of sucrose and fructose obtained from the
boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice, is a food staple in
Colombia and other countries in South and Central America.
• Rapadura is a sweet flour that is one of the simplest refining of
sugarcane juice, common in Latin American countries such as Brazil,
Argentina, and Venezuela (where it is known as papelón) and the
Caribbean.
• Rock candy: crystallized cane juice
• Gâteau de Sirop – Syrup Cake
• Viche, a homebrewed Colombian alcoholic beverage

Successful Sugarcane
varieties across the world
Worldwide, there are several hundred varieties of sugarcane.
Depending on the countries ranking in exports, their varieties are
linked below: (Data as on 2015)

Myanmar: http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/CountryDetails.aspx?CountryID=21

http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/CountryDetails.aspx?CountryID=21

http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/CountryDetails.aspx?CountryID=21

http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/CountryDetails.aspx?CountryID=21

http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/CountryDetails.aspx?CountryID=21

http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/CountryDetails.aspx?CountryID=21

http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/CountryDetails.aspx?CountryID=21

http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/CountryDetails.aspx?CountryID=21

http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/CountryDetails.aspx?CountryID=21

http://www.sugarcanevariety.org/default.aspx

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 Varieties of Sugarcanes
cultivated in India
Since inception of All India Coordinated Research Project on
Sugarcane (AICRP) by ICAR-Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research
has identified 116 sugarcane varieties and out of these, 55 sugarcane
varieties have been released and notified for cultivation in different
parts of our country.
https://iisr.icar.gov.in/iisr/aicrp/download/FinalBookSugarcaneVarieti
es.pdf

Zone-wise and year-wise sugarcane varieties identified, released &

notified since 1982 to 2017 under AICRP on Sugarcane can be found in
Page 3 – 5.

This report also gives a detailed description of all the notified species,
their parents, crop characteristics, growing conditions,
disease/drought susceptibility, expected yield and sugar content
along with the regions recommended to grow that variety.

Varieties of sugarcane
grown n Karnataka
Sl. Variety Sucrose % Region Planting Age at Expected
No. Season Harvest Sugar
Recovery %

1 Co 8371 12.5 Southern and Aug. 1st week 12 to 14 11.0 to 12.0

Co 86032 Coastal and onwards months
North Karnataka

2 Co 7804 13.0 Central June, July, 12 to 14 11.0 to 11.5

Co 62175 Karnataka Aug, Oct and months
Nov.

3 CoC 671 14.5 Central and Oct to Jan. 12 to 14 12.0 to 12.5

Co 94012 North Karnataka months
Co 86032
Co 92020

4 CoC 671 13.2 North Karnataka June to 12 to 14 12.0 to 12.5

Co 86032 February months
Co 94012
SNK 754
SNK 61
SNK 44

https://www.nija1ingappasugar.com/sugarbreeding.htm1

5
 Top
Sugarcane
producing
countries
of the
world
2020

6
State wise Production of Sugarcane
(2015-20)

7
 Top 10 exporting countries of the
world 2021

Top Importing countries of Sugarcane

from India (2020-21)

8
World Export and Imports (2021)

9
10
 Export performance of Sugarcane
2019 to 2022: All India and Karnataka

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
17011310 17011410 17019100 17011490 17011390 17011320 17029040 17031000

Al 2019-20 KTK 2019-20 Al 2020-21 KTK 2020-21 Al 2021 - 22 KTK 2021 - 22

11
 Export Analysis of Sugarcane
and its products: 2021-22

Exporting States Others

Malaysia
28%
33%
20
15.16
15 Australia 2%

UAE 5% USA
10
Canada 19%
6.07
6% Nepal
5 2.81 7%
1.66
0.88
0
All India Tamil Nadu Maharashtra Kerala Karnataka Importing Countries

Exporting States Others

36%
USA
36%

Nepal
15 13.62 13%

12
Malaysia
UAE
9 8%
12%
6 4.41 UK
8%
Canada
3 1.95 1.56
10%
0.07
0
All India Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Gujarat Karnataka Importing Countries

12
 Exporting States Others
39%
Tanzania
22%

120 112.05

100
Sudan%
80
60 Oman
UAE
38.03 6%
40 8%
25.38
22.45
20
0.2 6.07
Bangladesh Yemen
0 7% 8%
All India Maharashtra Andra Gujarat Karnataka
Pradesh
Importing Countries

Others Bhutan 35%

Exporting States 36%

0.25 0.23
Canada
0.2 1%
0.20 Nepal
China 11%
0.15 3% UAE Singapore
6% 8%
0.10

0.05
0.01 0 0
0.00
All India West Bengal Maharashtra Uttar Karnataka
Importing Countries
Pradesh

13
 Exporting States Others
21%

15 Rwanda
13.17
2% Somalia
12 China 45%
3%
9
Nepal
5.79 7%
5.24
6

3 Djibouti
0.2 0.03
22%
0
All India Maharashtra Gujarat Kerala Karnataka
Importing Countries

Exporting States
Others
15%
1941.77
2000 UAE
5%
Indonesia
1500 1352.42 Arabia 38%
5%
Malaysia
1000 7%
Iraq
500 254.51
185.86 8%
Bangladesh
0 24%

Importing Countries
All India Maharashtra Uttar Pradesh Karnataka

14
 Exporting States
Others
34% Indonesia
3.73 27%
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5 2.06
2.0 Nigeria
Iraq 13%
1.5 1.27 6%
Vietnam UAE
1.0 12%
8%
0.5 0.09 0.07

0.0
All India Gujarat Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Karnataka Importing Countries

Exporting States Others

34% Neterlands
UK 28%
250 4%
214.62
Philippines
200 8%

150 119.02
Thailand
17%
100 Korea RP
50.62 10%
50 Vietnam
20.03 14%
0
All India Maharashtra Karnataka Haryana Importing Countries

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 SPS -TBT Standards for Cane Sugar:
Raw cane sugar mainly consists of types of sucrose, fructose, and glucose (‹95-98%). Additionally, the
product contains water (1.5-3.5%) and minerals (‹1-5%). Low moisture content significantly lengthens its
shelf life by reducing the risk of moulds and other contamination by microorganisms

For European buyers, mineral content is a major topic in quality standards. The maximum level of
mineral content is dependent on the type of raw cane sugar and whether the sugar has been partially
centrifuged. Mineral content is often measured as ash. Unless the sugar contains many impurities,
minerals account for most ash. For example, in the Philippine National Standard for Muscovado Sugar,
the ash level in muscovado sugar may not exceed 3%. Compared to demerara sugar, muscovado sugar
can have a much higher mineral content. Under the standards of Tate & Lyle, a large British sugar
refiner/importer, demerara sugar should not exceed a maximum ash level of 0.45%. Compliance with
this standard requires partial centrifugation of the raw cane sugar to remove excess molasses.

If raw cane sugar is overheated, it can contain high levels of acrylamide. Acrylamide has the potential to
cause cancer. There are no European legal requirements for the level of acrylamide yet, but the
European Union is investigating the need to take legal measures. The German government has set a
maximum acrylamide value of 1000 μg/kg for all food products. Low levels of acrylamide can be
achieved by Best Practice Management such as lower process temperatures and closed production
systems

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Minimum requirements for Jaggery:
I. Jaggery shall be :-
A. well dried, of firm consistency- not sticky or plastic.
B. having characteristic taste and flavour;
C. clean and free from insect infestations, live insect , dead insects, insect fragments, mould or mites,
larvae, rodent hair and excreta.
D. free from fermented and musty odour;
E. free from dirt or soil.
F. free from natural or synthetic colours, artificial sweetening agents.
G. free from any fungal or bacterial contamination.
H. free from deleterious substances injurious to health.
I. free from bleaching agents.
J. free from added starch

II. Jaggery shall comply with the residual level of Poisonous Metals (rule 57), crop contaminants (rule
57-A), naturally occurring toxic substances (rule 57-B), Insecticides and Pesticides residues (rule 65)
and other food safety requirements as laid down under the provisions of Prevention of Food
Adulteration Rules, 1955 for domestic purposes.

III. Jaggery shall comply with the residual levels of heavy metals, pesticides residue and any other food
safety requirements as prescribed under Codex Alimenterius Commission or importing countries
requirement for export purposes.
IV. Jaggery shall be sweet to the taste and free from any objectionable flavor

SPS-TBT standards for top 5 countries for HS Code 17011310: Cane Jaggery
https://www.indiantradeportal.in/vs.jsp?pid=17&agreements=127-1%2C127-3%2C127-7%2C146-7%2C146-8
%2C146-16%2C186-7%2C191-1%2C191-3%2C191-7%2C225-7&indHscode=1351&hscodes=1701130000-127%2C1
7011310-146%2C170113100000-186%2C17011300-191%2C1701131000-225%2C&127=1701130000&146=17011310&186
=170113100000&191=17011300&225=1701131000

Processing technologies available

17
 Action plan
• Though India ranks 2nd in production of Sugarcane, we are not among the top ten exportin
g countries. However, India ranks 1st in sugar, jaggery and other by products of Sugarcane.
• Sugar and Sugarcane policy formulated by Department of Food and Public distribution
under the Ministry of Consumer affairs, Food and Public distribution, Government of India
supports cultivation and expansion of Sugarcane as a cash crop. Highlights of the policy:
https://dfpd.gov.in/sugar-sugarcane-policy.htm
• The Central Government has announced an incentive for sugar mills in the form of an
additional domestic sales quota to those that export sugar and divert the commodity
towards ethanol making, in the new 2021-22 season starting October.
• For ethanol making, mills had diverted 9,26,000 tonnes of sugar in 2019-20 and 3,37,000
tonnes in 2018-19. And, in the current season, more than 20 lakh tonnes is likely to be
diverted. In the new season, about 35 lakh tonnes of sugar is estimated to be diverted; and
by 2024-25, about 60 lakh of sugar is targeted to be diverted to ethanol, which would
address the problem of excess sugarcane/ sugar as well as delayed payment issue, the
Union ministry said.
• Several measures have been taken to sugarcane producers and sugar industry via the task
force under NITI Aayog in the year 2020.
https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2021-08/10_Report_of_the_Task_Force_on_Sugarca
n_%20and_Sugar_Industry_0.pdf

Organizations which work for Sugar and

related industries:
• Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA)
• All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA)
• National Sugar Institute (NSI)
• The Sugar Technologists Association of India (STAI)

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 Responsibility Matrix

Regulators and Service providers

No. Organization Service Contact

RCMC, Market survey 1st Floor, Beeja Bhavan, Bellary Rd,

1. APEDA and assistance. Hebbal, Bengaluru - 560024.
E: apedablr@apeda.gov.in
17, Richmond Rd, Shanthala Nagar,
2. KAPPEC PMFME Scheme Richmond Town, Bengaluru - 560025.
E: kappec1996@gmail.com

6th floor, Kendriya Sadan, C & E Wing,

IEC, Customs and 17th main, Koramangala 2nd Block,
3. DGFT
ICEGATE Koramangala, Bengaluru - 560034
E: bangalore-dgft@nic.in

Phyto Sanitary certifica- Hebbal-Boopasandra Road HA Farm

4. Plant Quarantine tion (SPS) Post, Bengaluru - 560024.
E: dd-pqfsb-ka@nic.in

KIAL Road, Devanahalli,

5. BIAL Cool Port Freight and Flight Bengaluru -560300
W: http://www.aisats.in

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