Cold wave hits sugarcane crushing

By Rabindra Upreti,Bardibas, Dec. 24: Everest Sugar Mill in Ramnagar, Mahottari, which has long been mired in turmoil and uncertainty due to agitation by sugarcane farmers, has begun sugarcane crushing from Monday.

The mill, which had initiated sugar production on December 11, 2024, was able to start the operations only after a delay of about two weeks in the current crushing season.

Despite the late start, the mill initially faced a shortage of sugarcane as supply was affected by a cold wave, according to mill officials.

Financial General Manager of Everest Sugar Mill, Bimal Chandra Thakur, said that although a puja was held before mid-December, crushing officially began only from December 22 this year.

According to him, Everest Sugar Mill, which has a daily crushing capacity of 55,000 quintals, requires a minimum of 30,000 quintals of sugarcane per day to operate smoothly.

However, at present, only about 15,000 quintals of sugarcane reach the mill yard, which is sufficient for barely 12 hours of operation even at low capacity.

Thakur said crushing started at 10 a.m. on Monday in the hope that more sugarcane would arrive from farmers.

Sugarcane farmers said supply has been affected due to the early onset of the cold wave in the Tarai region this year. While the cold wave began in the first week of January last year, its effects have been felt since mid-December this year, farmers said.

Naresh Singh Kushwaha, president of the Sugarcane Producers Farmers Association, Mahottari, said that a lack of sunlight in the southern part of the district over the past four to five days has adversely affected farming.

However, he expressed hope that sugarcane supply would gradually increase in the coming days as crushing has just begun.

In the current fiscal year 2025/26, Everest Sugar Mill has set a target of crushing around 3 million quintals of sugarcane. The mill mainly receives sugarcane from Mahottari and Sarlahi districts. 

This year, sugarcane has been cultivated on 9,593 bighas of land in Mahottari district, with an expected supply of about 2.426 million quintals. Similarly, a survey shows that around 517,000 quintals of sugarcane will be available from 3,428 bighas of land in eastern Sarlahi.

Last year, Everest Sugar Mill, which operated from December 11, 2024, to mid-March 2025, crushed 314,163 quintals of sugarcane and produced 270,588 quintals of sugar.

According to this year’s projections, the decline in sugarcane supply is expected to have an impact on sugar production.