Sugarcane growers from across the state are gearing up to launch a massive agitation against the state government for its failure to fulfill their long-pending demands, including the introduction of a State Advisory Price (SAP) Act. The SAP Act will enable the state government to fix cane price annually.
Presently, there is no SAP system in Karnataka and mills fix the cane price arbitrarily without consulting the government and farmers. However, the price is usually higher than fair and remunerative price (FRP) announced by the Centre. The SAP system is presently followed in Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
According to Karnataka Sugarcane Growers’ Association (KSGA), there is a provision for state governments to introduce SAP Act which will help the government fix the cane price scientifically. For the current sugar season (October 2009-September 2010), the state government has not fixed the cane price despite several reminders from farmers, Kurubur Shanthkumar, president, KSGA said.
“As per law, the deputy commissioners in each district are authorised to call a meeting between farmers’ representatives and mill owners to fix the cane price. But, this year, none of the DCs in the state have called a meeting to fix the price. We have made several requests to state sugar minister and chief minister, but they have not bothered to listen to farmers’ plea. So we have decided to launch an agitation in front of Vidhana Souhda in Bangalore on January 19 to press for our demands,” Shanthkumar told Business Standard.
Presently, sugar mills in North Karnataka are paying Rs 1,800-2,000 per tonne of cane in addition to Rs 300 for harvest and transport costs, while mills in southern Karnataka are paying Rs 1,600-1,725 per tonne, which is 54 per cent and 33 per cent higher than FRP respectively.
Shanthkumar said the prices presently fixed by mills across the state are not remunerative to farmers as the cost of cultivation is much higher at Rs 1,550 per tonne. While farmers in North Karnataka are getting little more than their cost of cultivation, farmers in south Karnataka are barely getting their cost.
“The mills now get Rs 4,800 per tonne in returns as the retail price for sugar has touched Rs 42 per kg in the market. Other than sugar costs, the mills make additional profits from the sale of by-products like molasses and cogen power. After deducting the cost of conversion and purchase tax, the millers are netting a profit of Rs 4,200 per tonne and in return they are paying peanuts to farmers,” Shanthkumar said.
He said if the state introduces SAP, the farmers’ interests would be protected as there will be a provision for fixing cane price scientifically and “the farmers will not stop their agitation until the state government introduces SAP Act.”
Other demands of the sugarcane farmers include formation of Sugarcane Development Board with representatives from farmers to protect interests of cane growers. According to him, the commissioner for cane development is presently favourable only to sugar mills and farmers are neglected.
