The Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers Association has urged the Union government to allow sugarcane growers to produce ethanol from sugarcane.
Speaking to presspersons here on Monday, the association president Kurabur Shantha Kumar said allowing sugarcane growers to produce ethanol would help produce cost-effective fuel and ensure better returns to the farmers.
If the government allows the sugarcane growers to produce ethanol, the farmers would get a minimum of Rs. 3,500 per tonne and it would be an alternate source of income for them. The State government should take up the matter with the Union government and see that the licence to produce ethanol was issued to the sugarcane growers free of cost. The MPs of the State should also exert pressure on the Union government on this, Mr. Kumar said.
The State government should also allow farmers to produce electricity from sugar cane waste (bagasse) and purchase the power offering the price being given for solar power. The association was ready to take up a pilot project and show the results if the government wanted to, he said.
Taking a dig at Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Mr. Kumar said that Mr. Gowda was issuing irresponsible and senseless comments on sugarcane growers.
“He recently suggested that farmers should not grow sugarcane. If we don’t grow sugarcane, will the Minister allow us to grow cannabis?” he said.
