Sugarcane is an important agro-industrial crop in India, occupying 4.0 million hectare area. It is grown in two distinct agro-climatic regions: the tropical and sub tropical; Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu being the important cane growing states in tropical region while Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Bihar are the four important states growing sugarcane in North India. Uttar Pradesh in sub-tropical and Maharashtra in tropical region, however, occupy the top position as far as sugarcane crop area and sugar industry are concerned.
The average cane yield in India is about 70.0 tonnes per hectare while the sugar recovery is around 10.0 percent. However, there is potential of increasing the average cane yield to 100 tonnes per hectare and sugar recovery to 11.0 percent, if new technologies are transferred to the farmers fields.