Chandigarh, March 7 -- Haryana government on Friday set alarm bells ringing about the sugar sector, estimating that sugarcane production in 2025-26 could fall by 38% compared to 2020-21 as farmers are steadily moving away from the crop due to falling yields, rising cultivation costs and diminishing returns.

Replying to a calling attention notice of BJP MLA Ghanshyam Dass (Yamunanagar), cooperation minister Arvind Kumar Sharma said that the area under sugarcane had initially risen from 2.46 lakh acre in 2020-21 to 2.66 lakh acre in 2022-23. However, after 2022-23, the area under sugarcane has been continuously declining.

The minister said that the average yield has also largely trended downward during the period and is estimated at 330 q...