Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is one of the important commercial crops of India. Sugar is the second largest agro based industry in India after cotton textile industry. The Indian sugar industry has a turnover of Rs. 500 billion per annum and it contributes almost Rs. 22.5 billion to the central and state exchequer as tax and excise duty every year. The sugar industry provides livelihood to 35 million growers, factory workers and their dependents, which constitute about 7.5 per cent of the rural population. The sugar industry employs 2 million workers and also provides substantial indirect employment through various ancillary activities. Sugar and its byproducts play a pivotal role in the agro-industrial economy and share nearly two per cent of the GDP. The industry not only generates power for its own requirement but surplus power for export to the grid based on byproduct bagasse. It also produces ethyl alcohol, which has industrial and potable uses, and ethanol is an eco-friendly and renewable fuel for blending with petrol. Organic farming systems have attracted increasing attention over the last one decade because they are perceived to offer some solutions to the problems currently besetting the agricultural sector. Organic farming has the potential to provide benefits in terms of environmental protection, conservation of nonrenewable resources and improved food quality.

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