India’s sugar output for the 2025-26 sugar season (October-September) faces significant risk with early official data showing a marginal decline in sugarcane acreage. While initial figures indicate a slight dip in cultivated area, weather and rainfall patterns, coupled with ongoing agricultural challenges, pose a threat to overall sugar production, potentially reducing it from 2024-25 levels.
As of the first week of May, sugarcane acreage stood at 5.31 million hectares (mh), a slight decrease from 5.34 mh a year ago. This cane will be crushed during the upcoming 2025-26 season.
Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest sugar-producing state, has seen its sugarcane area reach 2.79 mh by May 8, down from 2.88 mh a year ago. While weekly updates for UP can differ from final estimates due to various factors including mandi arrivals and mill usage, the Agriculture Ministry’s final acreage data for 2024-25 also showed a decline in UP to 2.59 mh from 2.65 mh in 2023-24.
