Sugarcane reserve area to remain same

The Karnataka government has rejected the demand of sugarcane farmers to relax rules for transportation of cane outside the reserved area.

The farmers should sell their cane to a sugar factory within the reserved area as stipulated in the Sugarcane (Control) Order 1966, the department of agriculture marketing and sugar has said.

The department has directed mills in the state to enter into an agreement with growers in their respective reserved area and procure cane. But, many mills in the state have resorted to procurement of cane from wherever it is available owing to the shortage of cane for the last two years.

Shivaraj S Thangadagi, minister for sugar and agriculture marketing, said, “There is no proposal before the government to relax rules pertaining to sugarcane reserved area. Like other states, in Karnataka too, every sugar factory is having its own cane reserved area and they should purchase cane within the reserved area.”

As per the Sugarcane (Control) Order, every sugar factory has to register the cane according to the capacity of their plant and an agreement to this effect should be entered into between the cane growers and the sugar factory. The cane should be supplied to the sugar factory as per this agreement, Thangadagi said.

“No sugarcane shall be exported from the reserved area except under and in accordance with the conditions of permits issued by the deputy commissioner.

There is no provision for the free movement of sugarcane as per the existing Sugarcane (Control) Order. Any change in this provision is under the control of the Central government and there is no scope for the state government to make any changes,” the minister added.

Kurubur Shanthakumar, President, Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association (KSGA) has demanded that farmers should have the right to sell their cane to any factory they want. Citing the example of ISR Sugar Factory, a Hospet-based mill, which had offered lower cane price compared to other mills in the neighbouring districts, he said farmers should be allowed to sell their cane outside the reserved area if they have not entered into any agreement with a particular mill.

Shanthkumar said ISR had offered Rs 1,500 per tonne of cane, whereas other mills had offered Rs 1,900 per tonne.

“Why should a farmer lose Rs 400 per tonne just because the Sugarcane (Control) Order stipulates that farmers should sell their cane only to the mill in the reserved area?” he pointed out.

The problem for farmers will worsen when the cane output increases in the coming years. During the glut, farmers will be forced to sell their cane for a much lower price, he said.

The KSGA has also demanded the extension of the distance between two mills from the present 15 kms. Presently no new sugar mill is permitted within a 15 km radius of an existing mill.

He also urged the state government to fix the cane price for sugar year 2009-10. The cane price should be fixed by taking into account the market price for sugar and the profit earned by mills from the by-products, he said.