Context :
EXTRACT :
Ø Facts :
#
Around 52 lakh hectares of land is currently
under sugarcane
#
Agricultural experts predict there will be an opening stock of 112 lakh tons of
sugar at the beginning of the crushing season,
which begins in October and ends
in March. It is expected that the closing
stock at the end of the season will be
around 93 lakh tons
#
Maharashtra produces around 33 % of sugar in the
country. The sugarcane is
the most important cash crop in the state with
around 30 lakh farmers engaged
in sugarcane farming
#
Out of 33 Cabinet Mnisters in the State, 15 own and control one or more
sugar
factories in their district , both in private
and cooperative sector
Ø Recommendation of NITI
Aayog
# Centre should give
incentive of Rs 6,000 per hectare to farmers to divert
their
land to other crops
Ø Arguments by NITI Aayog
# Total area under sugar
cultivation can be brought down by 3 lakh hectares over
the next 3 years, provided farmers were given
cash incentives
# Sugar factories should
also be allowed to buy only 85 % of sugarcane from
farmers to discourage them from bringing more
and more area under sugarcane
cultivation
# The Central Government
should stop maintaining buffer stocks of sugar … under
the ( buffer stock ) scheme, 12 percent of the
overall stock is left unsold in factory
warehouses, which artificially raises the
price of the commodity. The government
bears the carrying cost, storage cost and
insurance premium on the stock
==================================================
Shri Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation Cooperative Sugar Factories , says :
Ø One way of reducing
production of sugar is to divert more and more sugarcane towards producing ethanol.
The factories will do it happily as they
get payment for ethanol from petroleum
companies in only 21 days , whereas otherwise they
have to hold onto their stocks
for
minimum 7 to 8 months, before it is sold
Is Nitin Gadkariji
likely to support Shri Naiknavare ? – and overrule NITI Aayog ?
Most likely . Here is
what he said in Feb 2017 :
He said at present ethanol is derived from
molasses which is barely 119 crore litres as against a
minimum requirement of about 500 crore litres.
"We get hardly 3
% ethanol whereas we can mix 22 % in petrol. There is shortage of 19 per cent..
Promotion to green fuel like ethanol will not only arrest migration of people from villages
to town but using bio technology production of biomass could be enhanced and
more people could be roped in for employment, he said.
-----------------------------------------------------
So, what is wrong with
cultivating MORE sugarcane to produce more ethanol ? ( Missing Argument ? )
Ø
It takes 1700 gallons
( 6426 litre ) of water to produce one gallon of ethanol .
Assuming a 30 gallon gasoline tank in a
SUV, we calculate 51,000 gallons of water
for
the corn ethanol fill up ( Prof David Pimentel of Cornell University )
Ø
Each time someone fills up an SUV with corn Ethanol, he or she
uses as much water as the average American residential user consumes in 16 months !
[ source : What are “ side effects “ of Ethanol ? /
29 Apr 2018 ]
----------------------------------------------------
So ,
how much water do other crops need to produce 1 kg ?
Here are some facts :
Ø Rice ……………………….. 3.000 / 5,000 litre
Ø Cotton………………………22,500 litre
Ø Sugarcane………………..1500 / 3000 litre
Ø Soya………………………… 900 litre
Ø Wheat……………………… 900 litre
Hence, at 3000 litre
/ kg , sugarcane crop would need :
3000 litre / Kg x
1000 kg = 3,000,000 litre per ton, of
sugarcane ( 3 million litre / ton )
Now, in India, we
harvest 76 tons of sugarcane per hectare
( source : Indian
Institute of Sugarcane Research )
That would require :
3 million litre / ton
x 76 tons / hectare = 228 million litre of water required / hectare
Hence , by reducing 3
lakh hectare of Sugarcane crop, we can save :
3 lakh hectare x 228
million litre / hectare = 684 million*lakh litre of water / year
I leave it to you ,
how many extra tons of wheat we can produce each year, from these 3 lakh
hectare of “ freed land “ , using 684 million*lakh litres of “ freed water “
And whether this “additional
production “of wheat can help us save 1663 children ( under the age of 5 ), who
meet a “ premature death “ in India EACH DAY, due to “ Starvation “
How much will this
cost the Government if NITI Aayog recommendation ws accepted ?
Rs 6000 / hectare x 3
lakh hectare = Rs 18,000 lakh / year ( Rs 180 Crore )
---------------------------------------------------
Related Reading :
How
much water is needed to produce food and how much do we waste?
Cabinet
nod to increase in sugarcane price
=====================================================================================
hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 20
Aug 2020