The Hindu : Naidu writes to Centre on payment to cane-growers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 28, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Naidu writes to Centre on payment to cane-growers

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD Dec. 27. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, has written a "strong'' letter to the Centre, taking exception to the delay of five years in deciding on quantum of additional amount to be paid by sugar factories to growers, over and above the Statutory Minimum Price.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the State Advisory Committee on Sugarcane, the Agriculture Minister, V. Sobhanadreeswara Rao, and the Sugar Minister, P. Narayanaswamy Naidu said, the quantum of the additional amount was calculated in accordance with "Bhargava formula'', and it varied from factory to factory and area to area.

The last time the quantum had been decided was way back in 1996- 97, with the result that the amounts had been lying with the factories denying the benefit to growers. It would have been helpful to the growers, especially when the system of State Advisory Price had not been not there anymore for the last two years.

They said the Centrally-sponsored scheme of setting up sugarcane seed treatment facility would be extended to Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari, Chittoor and Nizamabad districts. The seed is treated against smut, red rot and a few other diseases. The equipment costs Rs. 2.5 lakhs each and the expenditure is shared by the Centre (75 per cent) and the State (25 per cent). The Government would consider setting up a mobile unit as suggested by the advisory committee.

The Ministers said the Centre was collecting Rs. 140 per tonne of cane as cess out of which Rs. 90 was for maintaining the buffer stock. It worked out to Rs.1500 crores and it enabled maintenance of 20 lakh tonnes, to overcome problems faced in difficult situations.

The State may see a 25 to 35 per cent fall in sugarcane production and the recovery rate, owing to the continuing drought conditions. The State ranked fifth in cane area (2.2 lakh hectares) and production (177 lakh tonnes) in the country but the productivity at 85 tonnes per hectare was lower than that in Tamil Nadu, where it was 115 tonnes.

Mr. Rao said a number of suggestions had come up during the Advisory Committee meeting, attended by scientists, sugar factory and grower representatives. One of them was raising the percentage of ethanol in petrol from 5 approved by the Centre. In Brazil, the percentage was as high as 20 in both petrol and diesel. The KCP unit at Vuyyuru has already started producing ethanol that can be mixed with petrol. A suggestion was on producing ethanol directly from sugarjuice instead of molasses route. It can avoid piling of sugar stock.

There was a suggestion on encouraging byproducts like biofertilisers. Scientists pointed to the way farmers in Chittoor and other bordering districts raised varieties brought from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and incurred losses. They asked farmers to be cautious and raise only those suitable to the area.

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Naidu writes to Centre on payment to cane-growers