Orissa sugarcane farmers demand higher price

The sugarcane cultivators in south Orissa's Ganjam district have demanded a rise in price of the crop and incentives for the farmers to help increase the area under sugarcane cultivation in the district.

These demands have been made by the sugarcane cultivators a couple of days ahead of their discussion with the management of the Aska Cooperative Sugar Industries Limited (ACSIL) scheduled on Tuesday.

The sugarcane cultivators under the banner of the Ganjam District Sugarcane Growers Association have threatened that the sugar industry in the state would starve of raw material if their demands are not met.

Around 20,000 cane growers in Ganjam district are supplying sugarcane to run the factory of ACSIL.

The association has demanded that the cane price should be enhanced from Rs 1280 per tonne at present to Rs 2200 per tonne. It has also called upon the management of ASCIL to provide incentives in terms of fertilizers and pesticides worth about Rs 4,000 per hectare.

“We have already submitted our demands to the management of ASCIL”, said Samir Pradhan, general secretary of the association.

“The price of sugarcane at Rs 1280 per tonne was fixed last year when the price of sugar was Rs 17 per kg. The price of sugar has almost doubled this year and the cost of other materials including fertilizers and pesticides has also increased. Considering these factors, the minimum support price of sugarcane needs to be raised to Rs 2200 per tonne”, he added.

The cane growers also demanded that the price of sugarcane should be announced in advance so that the farmers feel attracted to take up sugarcane cultivation in the district. Besides, they have pointed out that the authorities at the district level need to announce the incentive package under the Rashtriya Krushi Vikash Yojana (RKVY) to encourage the farmers to take up cane cultivation.

The announcement of the incentive package is necessary as the area under sugarcane cultivation in the district is gradually decreasing with the farmers switching over to other crops.

The farmers are not interested in sugarcane cultivation as the crop is no more profitable, Pradhan said. Sources said the area under sugarcane cultivation has come down from 10,000 hectares to 4,000 hectares in a decade.

The crushing in ASCIL's factory has also reduced from 1.47 lakh tonnes in 2007-08 to 73,000 tonnes in 2008-09.