DHARMAPURI: The Subramaniya Siva Cooperative Sugar mill in Harur in Dharmapuri has decided to begin the crushing process on December 5. Over 10,500 acres of sugarcane cultivation have been registered for crushing this year and mill authorities predict that farmers will bring 3.95 lakh tonnes of sugarcane for crushing.
This mill is one among the two state-run sugar mills in the district and 40,500 farmers and over 9,500 to 10,500 acres of sugarcane fields from parts of Dharmapuri and Tiruvannamalai are registered under the mill. Due to surplus rainfall received by the district, farmers in the area have been urging the administration to begin crushing and the crushing will begin from December 5.
R Kaliyappan, a farmer from Harur, said, “This year, the cultivation season began early due to the surplus rains the district has been receiving since June. Many farmers who had previously stopped cultivating sugarcane, restarted cultivation.But, due to repair works, crushing process was delayed.”
K S Ramadoss, a farmer from Harur, said, “We have been facing a severe labour shortage due to increase in cultivation area and high demand of labour. As of now, we have to spend Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500 per labour each day. By accounting for fertilizers, planting and maintenance cost for nearly nine months, we lose about Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per acre, which is at least 30 to 40% of the profits.” Ramadoss added, “Over the next few weeks labour charges will only increase.
Farmers unwilling to fork out high prices will face delays in cutting. This would lead to flowers blooming on the sugarcane, and the water content will be lost and the weight of the cane will reduce. Flowers have sprouted on sugarcanes in many areas around Harur.”
Rahamadullah Khan, MD of the Sugar mill, told TNIE, “A majority of the preparations are complete and the decision to open the mill on December 5 was done after consulting farmers from various associations. Usually, the mill opens by mid-December, but this year we are opening the mill early due to the large number of cultivators.”