BENGALURU: With sugarcane farmers intensifying their protests across Kittur Karnataka demanding Rs 3,500 per tonne for sugarcane, the Karnataka government on Thursday decided to intervene and called for two back-to-back meetings with the growers and sugar factory owners on Friday.
Claiming that the Union Government fixes the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also urged farmers not to block highways, causing inconvenience to people.
“The cabinet meeting also decided to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seek time to discuss the demands put forth by farmers. We will put pressure on the Centre,” the CM told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
While farmers are demanding Rs 3,500 per tonne of sugarcane, mills have refused to pay more than Rs 3,200 per tonne. The CM said that he had asked ministers HK Patil and MB Patil to visit Belagavi and Vijayapura districts and interact with the protesting farmers. “We have taken this protest by farmers seriously, and our government is a pro-farmer government,” Siddaramaiah said.
Further elaborating on the FRP, the CM said that the rate fixed by the Centre this year is Rs 3,550 per tonne for 10.25% recovery (which means 10.25 kg of sugar is produced from 100 kg of sugarcane). This rate of Rs 3,550 per tonne also includes harvesting and transportation. If the recovery is 9.5% or less, it is Rs 3,290 per tonne, he added.
“The State Government’s role is to weigh the produce and pay on time. We have initiated digital weighing measures at different places,” the CM added.
Further, the CM said that the Centre is responsible for regulating the Minimum Support Price (MSP) on sugar, which is Rs 31 per kg. “This was fixed in 2019, and the Union Government has not revised it since then,” Siddaramaiah criticised.
“The Centre has also regulated the export of sugar and restricted it to 10 lakh MT for the entire country, whereas Karnataka alone produces 41 lakh MT of sugar,” the CM added.
Similarly, though the state produces 270 crore litres of ethanol, its allotment is only 47 crore litres. Karnataka produced 522 lakh MT of sugarcane in 2024-25. This year, we are yet to get the quantity, as it is in the harvesting stage,” the CM said.
Slamming the opposition parties in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said that though the responsibility is on the Union Government, BJP leaders in the state are politicising the matter and are misleading the farmers. “We sympathise with farmers. There is a need to resolve this issue over discussion. I urge farmers to attend the meeting,’’ he added.
The CM further said that the Maharashtra model of paying sugarcane growers will also be discussed on Friday.
'Consider farmers' demand, fix cane price'
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka that if the Congress government really cares for farmers, it should consider their demand and fix a remunerative price for sugarcane and provide a subsidy of Rs 500 per tonne.
Ashoka said that if the government continues to ignore their demand, the farmers will intensify their stir, which may lead to the collapse of the government. Farmers of Belagavi, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi and Bagalkot have been protesting for the past eight days.
The agitation is spreading to other sugarcane-growing districts with many religious leaders extending their support, he said. Ashoka accused CM Siddaramaiah of trying to divert the attention of farmers by giving some lame explanations on fixing Fair and Remunerative Price, recovery-based pricing, and transportation and harvesting costs. Instead of addressing the farmers’s woes, the government is provoking them with its “anti-people policies”, he alleged.
CM approaches PM to discuss cane farmer woes
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an appointment with him to discuss the ongoing agitation by sugarcane farmers in North Karnataka.
In the letter, Siddaramaiah said that despite efforts by the state government to engage both the farmers and sugar mill owners in dialogue, the agitation has only intensified, and there is a growing sense of unrest among the farmer community.
The state government has engaged proactively and held multiple rounds of discussions with all concerned stakeholders. The CM further said that in Belagavi, the deputy commissioner has advised sugar mills to pay Rs 3,200 per tonne at 11.25% recovery, and Rs 3,100 per tonne at 10.25% recovery, excluding harvest and transport charges.
“Despite many measures, farmers remain dissatisfied and have threatened to resort to highway blockades and other measures if their demands are not met,” the CM said, while also explaining that the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) fixed by the Central Government for the 2025-26 season stands at Rs 3,550 per tonne for a basic recovery rate of 10.25%. However, after deducting the mandatory harvest and transport costs, which range between Rs 800 and Rs 900 per tonne, the effective payment reaching the farmer is only about Rs 2,600-3,000 per tonne.
The CM also pointed out that due to sharp increases in fertiliser, labour, irrigation, and transport costs, this pricing structure has rendered sugarcane cultivation economically unsustainable. Siddaramaiah explained that the root of the problem lies at the central policy level: the FRP formula, the stagnating Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugar, export curbs, and the under-utilised ethanol offtake from sugar-based feedstock. To discuss all these issues, the CM intends to call on the PM.