Farmers cultivating sugarcane are facing multiple problems. Water is one of the major constraints and it is affecting the productivity and profi tability of sugarcane growers and millers. The problem is going to further deteriorate due to variability of rainfall influenced by climate change. So, unless sugarcane farmers are provided with options of high yields with much less water, India will find it difficult to meet its growing demand for sugar.

Sugarcane is an important crop in India. There are 35 million farmers growing sugarcane and another 50 million depend on employment generated by the 571 sugar factories and other related industries using sugar. In Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, sugarcane plays a major role in the state economy.

During the last 10 years, sugarcane production in India has been fluctuating between 233 million tonnes and 355 million tonnes. Similarly, the productivity at the farm level is as low as 40 t/ha. With such low yields and fluctuations in production, and India having the second largest area under sugarcane cultivation in the world next to Brazil, the industry is in for big trouble.

The Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative (SSI) aims at providing practical options to farmers in improving

the productivity of land, water and labour, all at the same time. In addition, it reduces crop duration and provides factories a much longer period of crushing season and hence increasing employment to a longer period of time. SSI is also expected to reduce the overall pressure on water resources and contribute to recovery of ecosystems.