VILLUPURAM: "For the last one year, payments for our sugarcane supply have been pending and so we have decided to not grow cane crops this season. Paddy crops are now flourishing in my land and I will harvest them before Pongal," said Nagaraj, a farmer from Kumalam village in Villupuram.
Farmers in Villupuram known for its sugarcane cultivation and prime sugar mills are now changing their practices due to the private sugar mills’ alleged refusal to pay fair and remunerative prices (FRP) that have been pending since January 2019.
The FRP of over Rs 80 crore was not distributed to sugarcane farmers who had sold their produce to the mills early this year.
The farmers staged protests and conducted talks with officials. In March, during a meeting by the then district Collector L Subramanian, a few private sugar mills reportedly promised to pay farmers their FRP by June. But the amount was not distributed till December, claimed farmers.
“After struggling for money throughout this year, farmers were at last provided about Rs 10 crore. But, the payment of at least Rs 50 crore more is pending. So the farmers decided to not plant sugarcane anymore. They have shifted to cultivation of paddy, urad dal, cowpea and cassava. This year we received good rains. 2020 pongal will be a very happy time for these farmers,” said Kalivardhan, president of All Farmers Association in Villupuram.
Sridhar, a farmer holding four acres of land in Valavanur told Express, “We do not receive much water for irrigation from the lake, but the well here stored good supply this year. So I planted cowpea and cassava. With the profit from this harvest, I will be able to pay off the loans I took. Cultivation of different crops were taken by all farmers.”
Sources from a private sugar mill at Mundiyambakkam told Express, “We are facing severe losses since 2018, which is why we were unable to pay up FRP in 2019. Farmers not growing sugarcane the next year will affect our production. However, the management committee’s decisions are not clear as of now.”