Pune: With the onset of the sugarcane crushing season, farmers at the conference organised by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) in Kolhapur district on Saturday are set to demand a significantly higher price for their crop from factories than previous years.
“The imposition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) coupled with surging costs of agricultural inputs has made it imperative for farmers to raise their demand,” SSS chief Raju Shetti told The Hindu .
The Hatkanangle MP said the SSS would not permit factories to begin crushing unless farmers were promised a fair price for the crucial first instalment of sugarcane.
“This time, farmers are in a position to secure better prices as the total production nearly equals the sugar consumption across the country. We [the SSS] will urge farmers to sell their stock to factories prudently so as to gain maximum benefit,” Mr. Shetti said.
More than 50,000 farmers from north Karnataka and western Maharashtra are expected to attend the annual sugarcane parishad to in Kolhapur’s Jaysingpur township ahead of the start of the sugarcane crushing season on November 1.
Mr. Shetti, a former ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, recently severed with the National Democratic Alliance.
Last year, the SSS had demanded ₹3,000 per tonne as the first instalment price. Mr. Shetti has been vocal in his criticism of factory owners for defaulting on payments to farmers, alleging corruption in the sector stemming from politicians’ control over sugar mills.
“Maharashtra contributes to more than 35% of the national sugar output. This time, the State’s sugar yield has been 85-90 lakh tonnes, which is a drop as compared to the past couple of years. Untimely rain and extreme heat have played spoilsport. This time, sugar factory owners cannot give any excuse for defaulting on payments,” he said.
In 2014 and 2015, sugar factories had defaulted on payments of more than ₹400 crore. The SSS had vandalised the Sugar Commissionerate in Pune.
Last year, the commissionerate took stern action against 20 sugar factories for failing to make 80% of the fair and remunerative prices payments to farmers.
