Many a time excess production, instead of proving advantageous to the farmers, works against their interests. Earlier, the glut in tomato production forced the farmers to unload their product on the roads in protest against the low market price. And this time the sugarcane farmers are likely to face similar situation though not of that scale.
The sugarcane crushing season will begin at Magi and Kamareddy in Nizamabad district and about a dozen villages in Medak located at Narayanakhed will supply cane to these factories. Farmers are anxious about the price their product would fetch as they are hoping to get at least what they were paid last year. The decreasing ‘gate price’ (the price of sugar that would be sold by the factory managements within the premises to dealers)’ has become a serious cause for concern to the farmers. The price fell down to Rs. 2,750 per quintal from Rs. 3,300 in the past. Surplus production of sugar across the nation by the factories was stated to be the reason for this. According to sources, the current production is 2.35 lakh tonnes of sugar while the nation required only 2.20 lakh and there was a surplus production of 15 lakh tonnes. This has become an obstacle for the farmers in securing a remunerative price.
“We do not know how to approach even the Collector for a better price. We are worried about whether we would get the same price that was offered to us by the managements in the past. This is very pertinent as the situation is not in favour of the farmers,” said Nagi Reddy, a farmer from Medak. He attributed these fears to surplus production as it may lead to lower price.
In Medak district sugarcane was cultivated in about 22,000 hectares and yield of sugarcane was expected to touch about 12 lakh tonnes. While admitting that there was surplus production across the nation, Assistant Cane Commissioner Ch. Venkata Ravi was confident that farmers would get the price they were offered last year.
Bittersweet dreams
*Sugarcane crushing season will begin at Magi and Kamareddy in Nizamabad district shortly
*More than a dozen villages located at Narayanakhed supply sugarcane to these factories
*The decreasing ‘gate price’ becomes a serious cause for concern to the farmers
*Excess production set to play the spoilsport in securing remunerative price
*Sugarcane is cultivated in about 22,000 hectares in Medak district and the yield may touch 12 lakh tonnes
*Farmers hope to get at least the price that prevailed last year and anything less than that will spell trouble for them.
