A large number of sugarcane growers from all over the State will descend on Belgaum and picket the Suvarna Soudha on Wednesday when the winter session of the legislature is scheduled to begin.
The protest is to demand the State advisory price (SAP) of Rs. 3,000 for a tonne of sugarcane.
Announcing this here on Sunday, Karnataka Rajya Kabbu Belegarara Sangha president Kurbur Shanthakumar said there were nearly 25 lakh sugarcane growers in the State, including 4 lakh in Belgaum district. A large number of farmers would picket the Suvarna Soudha come what may, he said. The growers would disregard the restrictions imposed by the police on organising demonstrations or staging protests within 1-km radius of the Suvarna Soudha, he said.
The government should solve the problems of farmers instead of adopting such coercive measures, he said.
Mr. Shanthakumar said growers had been agitating for more than two months demanding that the government fix Rs. 3,000 as SAP for a tonne of sugarcane.
Agriculture Minister Umesh V. Katti, who heads a committee on SAP, was misleading growers by giving false assurances to protect the interests of sugar mill owners, he alleged.
Three meetings
Even after holding three meetings, the government was yet to consider farmers’ demand, he said. Mr. Katti reportedly made statement that a meeting was convened on November 29, but it was not held, Mr. Shanthakumar said.
Mr. Shanthakumar quoted the ‘Revenue sharing mechanism’ and ‘Cane price analysis per tonne of sugarcane’ for north Karnataka region for 2012-13 worked out by the Agriculture Ministry, which project a revenue of Rs. 3,777 for a tonne of sugarcane at 11 per cent recovery.
Also, with sugarcane production declining to around 225 lakh tonnes this year due to rainfall deficit and drought conditions from 330 lakh tonnes last year, the price of sugar was poised to increase in the next few months. Yet, the government was unwilling to direct sugar mills to pay Rs. 3,000 for a tonne of sugarcane, he said.
Mr. Shanthakumar criticised Mr. Katti and Belgaum Deputy Commissioner for not taking note of the ‘fast unto death’ undertaken by farmers in support of their demand on the Deputy Commissioner’s office premises here since Saturday.
He urged the State government to suggest changes to the recommendations of the C. Rangarajan Committee on Regulation of Sugar Sector in India, which has called for free trade in the sector but has imposed restrictions on sugarcane area reservation — keeping a minimum distance of 25 km between two sugar mills. He also urged the government to demand 80 per cent share in sugar value to growers against 68.76 per cent suggested by the committee.
