Sugarcane Farming in Mandya's Cauvery Command Area

Mandya district is Karnataka's sugar bowl — the most intensively irrigated sugarcane district in the state, fed by the Visvesvaraya Canal system drawing from the Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir. Over 80% of Mandya's cultivated area under the KRS command grows sugarcane, making it a near-monoculture economy. The district has the highest density of sugar mills in Karnataka, with both private and cooperative mills processing the cane into sugar, molasses, and ethanol. The Mandya sugarcane farmer's year revolves around the cane-crushing season (October–April), during which the mills run 24 hours. Intercropping of banana and coconut within sugarcane gardens provides additional income while improving soil moisture retention. The Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is most intensely felt in Mandya, whose cane crop depends entirely on regulated reservoir releases.