BERHAMPUR: Delay in payment of dues by Aska Cooperative Sugar Industries Limited (ACSIL) has led to discontent among sugarcane farmers.
A delegate of Ganjam Zilla Akhu Chasi Sangha, led by its general secretary Sameer Pradhan, on Saturday met the Managing Director of the industry and demanded immediate payment of dues to the farmers for the sugarcane supplied by them to the industry.
Speaking to media persons, Pradhan said last year more than 4,000 farmers of eight blocks in the district had grown sugarcane on over 4,200 acres of land.
As per an agreement with ACSIL, the farmers had supplied around 82,000 tonnes of sugarcane to the industry by the end of January this year.
As per norms, the industry is supposed to pay the farmers’ dues within one month.
If the industry does not comply with the norms, then it is required to pay interest to the farmers.
However, it has been almost six months since the farmers sold their produce to the industry and none of them have received their dues.
Pradhan said the sugarcane farmers grow the crop by availing loans and earn a meagre profit if they receive their payments on time.
“As the payment has been delayed, the farmers need to pay more towards interest,” he said, adding that owing to delay in payment of dues, land under sugarcane cultivation has been dwindling in the district.