Charging that the Renuka Sugars situated at Havalga in Afzalpur taluk of the district had refused to lift the sugar cane grown by the farmers in the Kadani village, these farmers have now demanded a compensation of Rs 25,000 per acre from the Government.
   On behalf of the Kadani sugar cane farmers, a representation regarding this was submitted to the Gulbarga deputy commissioner here on Tuesday by former taluk development board member and farmer Shivputrappa Marutaraya Patil, addressed to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
   Mr Patil said, based on the assurance by the Renuka Sugars, majority of the farmers in Kadani village had gone in for sugar cane cultivation. However now, he said, the factory was refusing to lift the sugarcane for crushing.
   He stated that many farmers had spent nearly Rs 20,000 towards sinking bore-wells and laying the pipelines in their fields for the purpose. However, now, the factory was not coming forward to lift the sugar cane. He said, due to depleting underground water table, the farmers were not getting enough water to keep the crops alive. And, if the crop is left in the fields for some more days, then the factories would not lift the crop due to low sugar recovery rate and the farmers would be put to a loss. "Due to this, majority of the farmers had come on the verge of committing suicide."
   Thereby, he urged the district administration to direct Renuka Sugars to lift the sugar cane immediately, and crush it. If not, then the government should come forward to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 for per acre of crop, he added.