Zuari Industries (SPE Division) convened its 1st Roundtable on Future-Proofing Sugarcane : Emphasizing on Strategies for Yield Enhancement & Climate Smart Agriculture

Zuari Industries (SPE - Division) successfully convened its 1st edition of roundtable conference on “Future-Proofing Sugarcane: Strategies for Yield Enhancement and Climate-Smart Agriculture,” held at Gobind Sugar Mill, Aira, Uttar Pradesh. The two-day event was held on 30 September – 1 October 2024, bringing leading farmers, industry experts, scientists, and policymakers together, addressing the critical challenges in sugarcane cultivation and exploring sustainable strategies for future growth. Through this round table, the endeavor was to identify actionable strategies to improve crop yield, soil health, and environmental sustainability while addressing the unique challenges faced by sugarcane cultivators, particularly In command area of the sugar mill and cross-pollinate the learning across the industry.

Day one of the roundtable conference was graced by Mr. V K Shukla, Additional Cane Commissioner & Director UPCSR, Shahjahanpur, as Chief Guest and the inauguration was done in the presence of Mr. Ved Prakash Singh, DCO, Lakhimpur. The conference witnessed participation from about 150 farmers and 40 subject matter experts from reputed entities like UPCSR, ICAR, IISR, Irrigation Deptt, Netafim, Balrampur Chini, ICRISAT, etc. They all focused on improving sugarcane yield through collaboration between experts and farmers, with discussions addressing challenges like climate change and regional farming .

On Day two, the conference witnessed enthusiastic participation from technology suppliers and manufacturers like Shaktiman, Sonalika, Lohan Engg., Kirloskar, Mahindra, Kisankraft, Mittal Engg., Lasermatic. The discussion centered on climate-smart strategies, importance of mechanization in the sugarcane fields and scientific varietal replacement to enhance yields. Overall, the two-day conference witnessed a great amount of enthusiasm and zeal from farmers and presenters alike as it provided a learning opportunity, fostering relationships between industry-academia-farmers.

At the conference, Chief Guest, Mr. V. K. Shukla, Additional Cane Commissioner, Lucknow & Director, UPCSR said, "Zuari's SPE Division has taken a commendable step with organizing this Future-Proofing of Sugarcane conference. It brought together farmers, agriculturists, and scientists to collectively deliberate on the challenges that sugarcane crop is facing in UP. Through these efforts, Zuari SPE division not only is promoting best practices of sugarcane farming among farmers but is also fostering a good connection between the Farmers, Industry, Technology Suppliers and Research Institutes. I am confident that the learnings from the conference will pave the way for other industries to conduct such sessions, collate the learnings and discussion points and disseminate this information among all the stakeholders for robust implementation on ground.”

The event was also graced by Mr. Ved Prakash Singh, District Cane Officer, Lakhimpur.