Growth Trend and Instability in Area, Production and Productivity of Sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh: An Overview

Abstract

The present study was conducted to analyze the growth rates and instability in the area, production, and productivity of sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh for the last 71 years from 1950-51 to 2020-21. A Semi-log regression model was used to assess the growth rates and trend, while instability was determined by an adjusted coefficient of variation and the Cuddy Della Vella Instability Index. The results of the growth analysis revealed that area, production and productivity accounted to be positive and statistically significant, whereas the highest growth rate was registered for sugarcane production i.e. 2.25 percent per annum rather than area (1.19% per annum) and productivity (1.05% per annum). In case of instability for the entire study period, the area, production and productivity of this crop accounted to be 24.01, 44.82 and 23.64 percent respectively. It shows that the variation in sugarcane production is higher compared with crop acreage and productivity. It implies that farmers should need to pay adequate attention to adopting improved production technologies and advanced management to address the problems of fluctuation in sugarcane production. Moreover, the higher stability of productivity and area implies a low risk in the supply of raw sugarcane to the sugar industries.