Credit: Special arrangement
Kalaburagi: A large number of sugarcane farmers in the border areas of Karnataka are selling their produce to factories in Maharashtra for better prices, assured and timely payment as the district administrations have not resolved the row over fixing of cane rate even after the start of crushing operations.
Factories in the state are providing Rs 2,700 per tonne against up to Rs 3,400 offered in Maharashtra, excluding transportation and cutting costs.
There are nearly 80 sugar factories in the state and more than 75 per cent are in Belagavi, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Bidar and Bagalkot districts. Therefore, farmers said sugar mills in the neighboring state (where there are around 200 factories) are approaching them.
Farmer leaders agree that the supply of sugarcane to Maharashtra will cause loss of tax revenue to the state government.
Maharashtra’s co-op sector
Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association president Kurubur Shanthakumar said hgher price was offered in Maharashtra as sugar factories there are in the co-operative sector, unlike Karnataka, where mills are owned by politicians. He accused factories here of deceiving farmers in weighing the produce and on sugar recovery rate.
The devastating floods and heavy rainfall have destroyed crops including tur, cotton and green gram in Karnataka. However, farmers have managed to get a better yield of sugarcane as it is a water intensive crop. Therefore, they expect a better price for the cane produce to compensate for the loss suffered in other crops.
The central government has fixed fair and remunerative price (FRP) of Rs 3,550 per tonne for a basic recovery rate of 10.25% per quintal, including transportation and cutting costs. But farmers have launched protests in the region for higher price.
Kalaburagi district sugarcane growers’ association president Jagannathrao Patil said middlemen from the neighboring state were buying the produce as farmers are finding it difficult to bear the costs of cutting and transportation in the absence of labourers.
“Sugar factories should provide Rs 3,500 per tonne excluding transportation and cutting costs. They have to settle bills within 15 days of cane procurement like in Maharashtra,” Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangh Vijayapura district president S B Kembogi said.
Sugar recovery rate
South Indian sugar mills owners’ association president Yogesh Patil said mills were offering higher price in Maharashtra owing to high recovery rate of up to 13%, thanks to factors like climatic conditions, fertile soil in Western Ghats and abundant water supply from reservoirs and barrages. They give the same price for cane produced in Karnataka and many factories engage in production of ethanol.
“The recovery rate from cane produce is gradually reduced up to 10% in the downstream areas of Krishna river in Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura and other districts. This variation has existed in the last many decades and there will be difference of Rs 300 for every one percent of variation in recovery rate. The cane yield and recovery is more in Maharashtra as the crop duration there is 16 months against 9 months in Karnataka, where farmers undertake harvesting under panic due to water scarcity,” he said.
Huge demand
Chunappa Pujeri, cane producer from Belagavi, estimates that 20 lakh metric tonnes of cane produced in the district is supplied to Maharashtra, though Belagavi district has 30 sugar factories. Farmer leaders said there was stiff competition in Maharashtra to buy cane from here, due to loss of crop following heavy rainfall and floods in that state.