Tamil Nadu - Erode   

Gur manufacturers’ higher price attracts sugarcane farmers

— PHOTO: M. GOVARTHAN

Stand to gain: Gur producers are happy because of good demand and sugarcane farmers because of the price the producers offer.

ERODE: Sugar mills offer farmers a little over Rs. 1,200 for a tonne of sugarcane. They don’t pay the entire amount, though.

They pay about Rs. 800, after deducting the expenses incurred towards harvest and transport of sugarcane from the field to the factory. And, this has upset farmers, who have been raising the issue with the State Government as well as various district administrations.

But then they have a friend in gur or jaggery producers, who offer much more than what the mills offer and sometimes twice.

A. Ravikumar, a gur producer, says he buys sugarcane between Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 1,750 right at the farm gate and does not charge the farmer for harvest and transport.

Mr. Ravikumar requires about 15 to 16 tonnes of sugarcane a day and he produces gur almost round the year. There are about 100 gur producers in Mullamparapu, near here, and much more in various parts of the district.

The gur producers not only offer a better price but also pay immediately, unlike sugar mills that delay payment, says T. Subbu of Tamizhaga Vivasayeegal Sangam, a farmers organisation. There is also the trouble of sugar mills harvesting sugarcane very late. “Though the ideal harvest time is the tenth month, mills harvest even at the eighteenth month, which forces the farmer to save the standing crop for eight months and prevents cultivation of a new crop.”

He adds, “In fact, farmers, by registering sugar cane with mills, suffer loss. If they sell it to gur producers, they stand to gain.” And, this situation, according to Mr. Subbu, has led to a decrease in number of farmers registering with sugar mills.

As for the gur producers, the continuous availability of sugarcane has helped in that they are able to cater to far off markets as well.

“With farmers offering sugarcane to gur producers and not mills, production has gone up and that has helped supply to markets in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and the entire State,” says K. Nataraj, a gur trader.

From a tonne of sugarcane, gur producers get 1,600 kg of gur, which is packed in bags of 30 kilograms. A bag costs Rs. 770, says Mr. Nataraj. He adds that the price is likely to increase with the onset of festive season.

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