Hospet Raith Sangh has said that farmers will not enter into any agreement with ISR Sugar Factory unless the price of sugar cane was fixed. It was wrong for the factory to set a deadline for farmers to enter into an agreement about sugar cane supply for the year 2007-08, it added.

The factory has announced that farmers must enter an agreement with the factory before September 15 on how much sugar cane they will supply.

According to guidelines, the factory must enter into an agreement with farmers on procuring sugar cane based on its capacity. But it should not set any deadlines, the Sangh said. The factory must purchase all sugar cane in its jurisdiction, Sangh’s leader Ghosal Barmappa pointed out.  He demanded that the factory should pay farmers arrears of 2006-07. A meeting must be called before September 10 to fix the price of sugar cane for 2007-08. The factory must disclose information to farmers and the government on the amount of sugar cane grown in its jurisdiction, its crushing capacity, and its financial position.

If the factory did not purchase sugar cane grown in its jurisdiction, the factory’s administrative board must compensate the farmers, Barmappa said.