Kolhapur: After registering the lowest crushing in last five years, the Kolhapur regional co-directorate has predicted that around 173 lakh tonne of sugarcane will be crushed in the 2017-18 season against this year's 152 lakh tonne.The Kolhapur and Sangli districts are prosperous sugar belts of Maharashtra. Last season's poor monsoon affected the sugarcane cultivation in the region and the sugar factories operated for only four months compared to the regular five to six month period. The poor monsoon also resulted in lowest yield and the region succeeded in crushing 152 lakh tonne sugarcane for 2016-17.A senior official in Kolhapur regional sugar co-directorate, on condition of anonymity, said, "The region crushed 152 lakh tonne sugarcane this year. We, at the primary stage, are expecting to crush around 173 lakh tonne sugarcane for 2017-18. The picture will get clear once the monsoon begins. The total area under sugarcane cultivation is yet to come out."P G Medhe, honorary adviser at Chhatrapati Rajaram cooperative sugar factory and sugar expert, said, "The prediction of regional sugar co-directorate is quite true. Good monsoon would have brought more area under sugarcane cultivation, but that did not happen. We were even expecting showers this month for natural irrigation and were disappointed. It could affect the final per hectare yield."

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