Heavy rain and floods, which have affected standing crops in Vijayapura district, have led to stagnation of water in sugarcane fields and this is expected to delay crushing this season.
According to reports, last year crushing started by the end of October itself. However, this year, in many places, crushing is not only going to be delayed but also sugar factories may not get adequate quantity of sugarcane.
Harvesting generally starts by the last week of October which is the ideal season for cutting sugarcane, but many farms still have water stagnating posing a difficulty in harvesting crop. The reports say that none of the nine sugar factories in the district has opened the gates for crushing as they are yet to receive sugarcane. It may be noted that heavy rain in Maharashtra affected several taluks in Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts after the neighbouring State opened the gates of its dams.
The heavy water flow resulted in flooding which led to hundreds of acres of land under sugarcane crop being inundated. After that, the district again received more rain adding to the woes of farmers.
Officials said that the district has incurred a financial loss of ₹ 245 crore due to sugarcane crop withering away. Sugarcane cultivation also declined this year as sowing was taken up only on 1,622 hectares of land as against the targeted 6,000 hectares of land, they said.
They said that 40 % of the standing crop has been affected owing to inundation.
Expressing dismay over the pitiable situation of sugarcane farmers, Srimath Duddagi, president of the Vijayapura District Sugarcane Growers Association, said that normally farmers faced problem with factory owners as they did not pay them on time. “This year, farmers are facing hardship from nature itself which is nothing but a double blow to them,” he said.
