Sugarcane Crisis Deepens: Why Farmers Are Moving Away From CO-0238 and Turning to New Red Rot-Resistant Varieties

This year, cultivation of sugarcane has been done on 58.87 lakh hectares in the country. Ten years back, the figure was 49.27 lakh hectares. Thus the acreage under sugarcane has increased by 10 lakh hectares during this period. CO-0238 was once cultivated on 27.9 lakh hectares in five major states of North India accounting for about 84 percent of total sugarcane area in these states.

However, the picture is changing. In Uttar Pradesh, the area under CO-0238 has decreased to 8.34 lakh hectares in 2025-26, representing 29.17 percent of the state's total sugarcane area. In 2023-24, it was cultivated on 17.76 lakh hectares. This means that its acreage has reduced by more than half in two years. Instead, the area under varieties like CO-0118, CO-LK-94184, CO-13235, and CO-LK-14201 has increased.

Red rot is known as sugarcane cancer. It reduces both the weight and juice content of sugarcane and reduces its sucrose content. ICAR research has also shown a reduction in the weight, juice, Brix, sucrose, and sugar recovery of sugarcane affected by the disease. This means less sugarcane in the field and less sugar in the mill.

In Uttar Pradesh, 6,372 hectares of sugarcane were affected by this disease in the current crushing season, compared to approximately 61,900 hectares in 2023-24. The situation was extremely severe in some areas. In the lower regions of western Uttar Pradesh, 60 to 100 percent of the plants were affected in CO-0238 fields.

ICAR has developed several new varieties as alternatives to CO-0238, which have yet to reach the fields. Among these, Ikshu-14 has been shown to be resistant to red rot. CO-16030, Ikshu-10, and Ikshu-15 have also been found to be resistant to red rot.