Andhra Pradesh has witnessed a sharp decline in sugarcane cultivation and production over the last five years, according to official data from Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The total area under sugarcane, which stood at 54.94 thousand hectares in 2020-21, has now shrunk to just 15.39 thousand hectares in 2024-25, a fall of more than 70%.
Correspondingly, production has also plummeted. In 2020-21, the state produced 41.99 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of sugarcane, while the output for 2024-25 stands at only 11.71 LMT, indicating a fall of nearly 72%.
While average yields have remained relatively steady, around 75–78 tonnes per hectare during the period, the steep drop in cultivation area has pulled down overall production.
The total area under sugarcane cultivation, production and yield per hectare
during the last five years, year and district-wise for Andhra Pradesh as received from
the State Government of Andhra Pradesh is below: (Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Nimuben Bambhaniya, informed the Lok Sabha)
District-wise trends
Visakhapatnam, once the largest contributor with 15.15 LMT production in 2020-21, has seen its output collapse to just 1.00 LMT in 2024-25.
Chittoor, another major belt, declined from 10.44 LMT in 2020-21 to 4.60 LMT in 2024-25.
Districts like Krishna and West Godavari, known for sugarcane farming, also reported steep declines. Krishna’s production fell from 4.03 LMT to 2.52 LMT, while West Godavari shrank from 3.07 LMT to just 0.50 LMT.
Several districts such as Nellore, Ananthapur, and Prakasam now record very low production.
According to the farmers, the sharp decline in sugarcane cultivation is due to rising input costs, a shortage of labour, and the closure of sugar mills across the state.
