DHARMAPURI: Sugarcane cultivators from the district have urged the government to increase the procurement price to Rs 5,000 per tonne due to the rising cost of labourers and scarcity of labourers impacting their profit.
About 3,500 hectares of sugarcane are cultivated in the district per year and hundreds of labourers rely on the cultivation for their livelihood. However, as sugarcane crops require about 11 months to complete one cycle and labourers cannot rely on this for their daily livelihood, most of them find other forms of employment.
K Chinnasamy, a farmer from Palacode told TNIE, “During harvesting season, at least 12-16 men are required to cut down to cut down sugarcane per acre. Later, clearing an acre of land could take up to seven to 12 days. So, a large portion of our profit is lost in production. Further, throughout the year, we require labourers to clear out weeds and protect our produce. Hence, to meet all these expenses we want an increase in procurement price.”
R Sivakumar, a farmer from Morappur, told TNIE, “In the upcoming month, the Subramaniya Siva Cooperative Sugarmill will open its doors for annual grinding. The state government must announce at least Rs 50,000 as procurement price per acre as the price of manpower, fertilizers, and required equipment has increased manyfold. Last year, despite having the best performance with a 10.98 per cent recovery rate, we were only paid Rs 3,743 per tonne. However, this year we need an increase.”
J Selvakumar, from Harur, said, “Sugarcane is cultivated only once a year so we earn little profit and that is re-invested to ensure cultivation. Increasing procurement price to Rs 5,000 will be great help.”
When TNIE spoke to the officials of Subramaniya Siva Cooperative Sugarmill, they said that they could not comment on the matter. However, they assured that they would ensure that the farmers were paid fairly for their produce.