Current Status of Sugarcane Research in India

Sugarcane is one of the most important crops commercially grown in about 115 countries of the world. India is a major producer as well as consumer of sugar in the world and has produced about 25MT of sugar from 360MT sugarcane in 2011-13, contributing about 15 percent of the total sugar production in the world. A quantum of sugar is produced from sugarcane, however, this crop faces a number of problems such as low cane productivity, biotic and abiotic stresses, high cost of cultivation, post-harvest losses, and low sugar recovery. In India, sugarcane research began in the beginning of the 19th century.--