<p>The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) recently asked the Agriculture and the Irrigation departments to explain the huge difference between the actual area under sugar cane cultivation and the area notified for cultivation.<br /><br /></p>.<p>This is because the area under cultivation is far more than what has been notified by the tribunal. An Irrigation department official told Deccan Herald that though the Tribunal had fixed a ceiling of 44,000 acres in Mandya district, the State government had notified or allocated 40,000 acres for sugar cane cultivation in the district. <br /><br />As per information obtained from the Department of Agriculture, this season, sugar cane has been cultivated in 39,000 hectares in Mandya. It increased by 5,000 hectares when compared with the previous season. Mandya is one of the largest producers of sugar cane in the State, besides Belagavi and Bagalkot districts.<br /><br />Farmers in Mandya have been growing sugar cane in more land by using borewells and water from canals and the Krishnaraja Sagar dam. This has now caught the attention of the CWDT, which has asked the State government to explain how the irregularities have happened.<br /><br />“We do not notify the area of cultivation nor do we regulate farmers. They are free to grow. Farmers are growing sugar cane because it gives good yield and presently the earning (market rate) from an acre is Rs 20,000. Since the area of cultivation falls under the Cauvery belt and water from here is used for cultivation, the tribunal has sought an explanation. We have informed the government about this,” an official from the Agriculture department said. Experts point out that the government, farmers and the sugar cane industry were to be blamed for the vast area of cultivation.<br /><br />M A Shankar, director of research, the University of Agricultural Sciences, Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra, Bengaluru, said the whole system and process were at fault and not just farmers, the government and the industry. Since paddy, rice, maize and ragi are not yielding profits presently, more farmers are growing sugar cane, which is also called ‘lazy crop.’ Here, farmers work for 90 days and the rest of the nine months they relax, unlike in case of other crops. Also, here the same crop can be grown multiple times on the same field. This is also a sure income-generating crop, despite fluctuations in the market rates. These are some reasons why farmers have shifted from other crops to growing sugar cane, despite the notification.<br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) recently asked the Agriculture and the Irrigation departments to explain the huge difference between the actual area under sugar cane cultivation and the area notified for cultivation.<br /><br /></p>.<p>This is because the area under cultivation is far more than what has been notified by the tribunal. An Irrigation department official told Deccan Herald that though the Tribunal had fixed a ceiling of 44,000 acres in Mandya district, the State government had notified or allocated 40,000 acres for sugar cane cultivation in the district. <br /><br />As per information obtained from the Department of Agriculture, this season, sugar cane has been cultivated in 39,000 hectares in Mandya. It increased by 5,000 hectares when compared with the previous season. Mandya is one of the largest producers of sugar cane in the State, besides Belagavi and Bagalkot districts.<br /><br />Farmers in Mandya have been growing sugar cane in more land by using borewells and water from canals and the Krishnaraja Sagar dam. This has now caught the attention of the CWDT, which has asked the State government to explain how the irregularities have happened.<br /><br />“We do not notify the area of cultivation nor do we regulate farmers. They are free to grow. Farmers are growing sugar cane because it gives good yield and presently the earning (market rate) from an acre is Rs 20,000. Since the area of cultivation falls under the Cauvery belt and water from here is used for cultivation, the tribunal has sought an explanation. We have informed the government about this,” an official from the Agriculture department said. Experts point out that the government, farmers and the sugar cane industry were to be blamed for the vast area of cultivation.<br /><br />M A Shankar, director of research, the University of Agricultural Sciences, Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra, Bengaluru, said the whole system and process were at fault and not just farmers, the government and the industry. Since paddy, rice, maize and ragi are not yielding profits presently, more farmers are growing sugar cane, which is also called ‘lazy crop.’ Here, farmers work for 90 days and the rest of the nine months they relax, unlike in case of other crops. Also, here the same crop can be grown multiple times on the same field. This is also a sure income-generating crop, despite fluctuations in the market rates. These are some reasons why farmers have shifted from other crops to growing sugar cane, despite the notification.<br /><br /><br /></p>