Chandigarh, Feb. 11 -- The sugar mills in Punjab in the ongoing crushing season are struggling to procure produce in proportion to their capacity. The situation has arisen due to a fall in yield caused by floods in the cane belt. To deal with the shortfall, the management and staff of the private mills are reaching out to the growers to get their share of the sugar cane.

Punjab cane commissioner Amrik Singh admitted to the problem and said that while the crushing capacity of the mills has increased substantially, the area under cane cultivation also needs to grow.

"At the onset of the season last year, sugarcane was planted over 95,000 hectares (2.35 lakh acres), out of which nearly 40,000 acres suffered damage due to floods and over th...