An awareness programme for sugarcane farmers was held at Irigipally village by Ganapati Sugar Industries Limited and Cane Development Corporation jointly on Tuesday.
Participating in the programme several farmers said they were facing the problem of engaging sowing and harvesting machines stating that hiring manpower had became a Herculean task. They said the company needs to hire more machines to meet the requirement of the farmers.
The officials informed that crushing had fallen from 9 lakh tonnes in the past to 5.17 lakh tonnes as many farmers preferred to go for paddy and there was a need to increase the crushing to 7 lakh tonnes.
Stating that farmers in Maharashtra were able to produce 160 tonnes to 180 tonnes per acre and this was possible here also if the best practices were followed.
Scientists Vijaya Kumar and Vijaya Lakhmi from Basantapur Sugarcane Research Centre, Ganapati Sugars CEO Jasvinder Singh Cheema attended.
