According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), El Niño conditions can lead to severe rainfall deficits, which directly impact sugarcane crops. For the 2026/27 season, Indian sugar production was revised down to 29.5 million metric tons from an earlier estimate of 33.6 million tons. The reduced rainfall lowers the sucrose content in sugarcane, diminishes the effective harvesting area, and decreases overall cane production. The total sugarcane crop is projected to drop to 434 million tons from 455 million tons in the previous season.