Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers’ Association (TNSFA) has demanded Rs.4,000 per tonne of cane sold by them to the sugar mills in the southern districts during the ongoing crushing season which is expected to continue till February.
The association also expressed its displeasure over the State government not having announced State Advised Price (SAP) for the cane purchased by cooperative mills this year, despite continuous protests by farmers seeking an early announcement. Leading a demonstration near the Collectorate here on Wednesday, association president N. Palanisamy said the sugar mills should come forward to bear the cane-cutting charges also apart from the expenses incurred on transporting the cane to the mills.
“The cutting charges have skyrocketed over the past few years. The farmers are unable to bear the huge expenses. On the one hand, the input costs have risen abnormally and on the other, prices of agricultural produce have dipped abysmally,” he lamented.
The other demands of the protestors included provision of uninterrupted power supply to agricultural pump sets and proper distribution of compensation to farmers who had insured their crops and suffered losses.
They also wanted the Centre to ban import of sugar and reject the report submitted by Dr.C. Rangarajan Committee on deregulation of the sugar sector. “Acceptance of the report will spell doom for the farmers as well as the cooperative sugar mills,” Mr.Palanisamy said.
