Cane crushing began at the Chengalrayan Co-operative sugar mill at Periyasevalai near Villupuram on Thursday.
According to officials, about 4.25 lakh tonnes of sugarcane, cultivated on about 13,845 acres, including 7,618 acres in Villupuram district and 6,227 acres in neighbouring Kallakurichi district, was aimed to be crushed at the co-operative mill during the crushing period.
Farmers would be paid ₹2,919 per tonne of cane. Inaugurating the cane crushing, Minister for Higher Education K. Ponmudy said that to encourage members of the society, who had registered and crushed cane in the last crushing season of 2022-23, a support incentive of ₹195 a tonne was issued to each member. Therefore, a total of ₹8.59 crore was directly credited to the accounts of members of the sugar cooperative society.
Collector C. Palani and MLAs N. Pugazhenthi (Vikravandi) and A.J. Manikannan (Ulundurpet) were present on the occasion.
