The State Sugarcane Growers Association has alleged that the sugarcane crushing units were providing erroneous information about sugar recovery and this had resulted in lower prices for the produce.
Association president Kurabur Shantakumar told presspersons here on Friday that the sugarcane crushing units are showing recovery percentage at 10-11 against the actual percentage of 11.50-13. They have resorted to such practices after the SAP Act came into force two years ago. If the sugar recovery percentage was lowered by a minimum of 1.50, the growers will lose ₹ 400 per tonne. Unfortunately, the government is admitting their report. The growers have urged the government to have its own mechanism for the purpose. The government too has agreed to form an expert committee to look into the matter. That committee should be formed at the earliest, he said.
About the minimum price for sugarcane, Mr. Shantakumar said that the committee formed to fix the prices failed to come to any conclusion even after meeting twice. The Gujarat Government has fixed ₹ 4,400 per tonne for sugarcane yielding 11 % sugar and Uttar Pradesh Government has fixed ₹ 3,200 per tonne for sugarcane with minimum sugar yield of 8.5 %. Moreover, in Karnataka, the sugarcane crushing units have voluntarily fixed the price of ₹ 3,200 per tonne due to shortage of produce this year.
However, the sugarcane crushing units of Hyderabad Karnataka and Old Mysore region were offering only ₹ 2,550 per tonne. While fixing minimum price, the State government should not fix the price below Rs. 3,200. At the same time, the farmers too should deny supplying sugarcane to those offering lower prices, he said.
Last year, 64 units crushed a total of two crore tonnes of sugarcane. This year too, the same quantity of sugarcane is expected to be crushed. Already, 18 units have crushed 25 lakh tonnes of sugarcane till this date, he said.
Further, Mr. Shantakumar demanded that the government should waive farm loan to help farmers who have been in trouble due to adverse weather conditions for the last three years and arrange to disburse fresh loans. The Union government has already waived bad debts of industries and this facility should be extended to farmers also, he said.
