For the first time, sugarcane farmers in Karnataka will get prices linked to the sugar recovery percentage of their produce, if factories abide by the directive of the Sugarcane Price Board.
At its meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday, the board instructed all 63 sugar factories in the State to provide fair and remunerative price (FRP), which is linked to the sugar recovery percentage of their produce. Though the FRP is supposed to be linked to recovery percentage, the board had not insisted on implementing the norm last year due to falling sugar prices.
Speaking to The Hindu after the meeting, Karnataka Sugarcane Growers’ Association president Kurubur Shanthakumar, who is a board member, said that as per the norms factories would have to pay Rs. 2,300 per tonne at a sugar recovery rate of 9.5 per cent. Any higher recovery rate will get them an additional Rs. 245 per tonne for every percentage point hike beyond 9.5 per cent, he explained.
The board also ratified the decision to make farmers pay for the cutting of the standing sugarcane crop and its transportation to factories. A formula, which decides the expenses based on factors such as extent of land and transportation distance, has been finalised, Mr. Shanthakumar said.
While some sugar mill owners demanded that the government assist them in paying the full FRP, the authorities asked them to pay the arrears of Rs.1,400 crore to farmers before seeking help, he said. According to him, farmers’ representatives expressed their displeasure over some sugar mills issuing advertisements expressing their inability to pay farmers. None of the sugar mills’ representatives responded, he said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha president and MLA and board member K.S. Puttannaiah said that he had urged the government to constitute a sugarcane development fund with a budgetary size of about Rs. 2,000 crore to help cane farmers in distress. He said the sangha would stage a protest on December 7 to draw the attention of the government to the problems of cane growers.
