New Delhi, Oct 20 - Sugar content in cane has fallen to 5-6 percent from the usual 9 percent level in Uttar Pradesh, India's top producing state of the sweetener, according to a PTI story reported in the Business Standard newspaper on Tuesday.
A delay in cane crushing due to the unseasonal post monsoon showers in the northern Indian state has led to the drop in sucrose content. The unseasonal rains have also pushed back cane crushing by almost a month.
Crushing season, which usually starts in early October, will commence from the first week of November this year.
Earlier, the worst monsoon in 37 years reduced the area under cane cultivation by 17 percent in Uttar Pradesh, which produces about half of India's cane.
India's sugar season runs from October to September.