BENGALURU: Thousands of farmers staged a protest at Freedom Park here on Friday seeking incentives and remunerative prices for sugarcane. Protesting under the banner of Sugarcane Growers’ Coordination Committee, Karnataka, they presented a charter of demands to Sugar Minister Rudrappa Lamani, who visited the park.
Alleging that the state and Union Governments have adopted anti-farmer policies, the committee warned that a statewide agitation will be launched if the government fails to respond to its demands by November 20.
The farmers condemned the arrest of sugarcane growers, who have been protesting in Belagavi for the past two months, and termed it an attempt to suppress their agitation. They rejected the sugarcane price fixed in Belagavi district, calling it unscientific.
The committee demanded that the government announce a State Advised Price (SAP) over and above the Centre’s Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), taking into account profits earned from sugarcane byproducts. It cited Tamil Nadu’s incentive of Rs 709 per tonne and Punjab’s SAP of Rs 4,480 per tonne.
The farmers urged the government to press the Centre to fix the FRP at Rs 4,500 per tonne for a sugar recovery rate of 10.25%, citing the production cost of Rs 4,440 per tonne submitted by the state last year.
They also demanded that FRP be fixed at the farm gate to prevent farmers from bearing harvesting and transportation charges. The committee sought a reduction in the sugar recovery benchmark from 10.25% to 9.5% and stringent laws to prevent irregularities in cane weighment and sugar recovery.
Their other demands are increasing the price of sugar to Rs 60 per kg and using the additional revenue generated to improve FRP, a share in the profit from ethanol production, changes in the ethanol policy to enable growers to produce ethanol, strict implementation of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, to ensure payment within 16 days, farm loan waiver in drought-hit taluks and compensation of at least Rs 25,000 per acre, and withdrawal of police cases filed against farmers.
Lamani promised the protesters that he would discuss their demands with Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and convene a meeting with farmers’ representatives soon to find solutions to their issues.
Suagrcane farmers in Belagavi call off agitation
A prolonged agitation by sugarcane farmers in Belagavi district ended on a positive note on Thursday, with sugar factories agreeing to pay `3,600 per tonne of sugarcane as the first instalment. Following the agreement, farmers leaders announced the withdrawal of the protest and urged growers to allow sugar factories to resume crushing operations. The breakthrough came at a crucial meeting convened under the leadership of Hukkeri Hiremath seer Chandrashekhar Shivacharya Swamiji, who played a key role in bringing farmers and sugar factory managements to the negotiating table.