Food inflation is set to remain with us a little while longer. Over the last two months, the price of sugar was seen to rise to Rs40 per kg. Sugar prices have since fallen, by nearly Rs10 per kg. Although Shivaraja S Tangadagi, minister for Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) and sugar, expressed confidence that sugarcane production would improve in the coming days, he revealed to DNA that sugar production in the state has been falling.
Will sugar prices fluctuate again?
The price of sugar is decided by the central government. This is not something that the state government can do anything about. Though the price of sugar had shot up over the past couple of months, it has since come down quite
drastically.
Is sugarcane production in the state good this year?
Cane production came down by 40% in the year 2009-10. However, in the year 2010-11, the shortage will be only 25-30%. In the year 2011-12, we are expecting an increase in sugarcane production.
Why has there been a fall in the production of sugarcane in the state?
Sugarcane had attracted low prices over the past few years, and many farmers then switched to other commercial crops. We have been having meetings with sugarcane growers. Efforts are on to assist farmers to return to the cultivation of sugarcane. We are also trying to reinstate some sugar factories in the state which are in a bad shape.
What has the government done to help farmers improve the yield of sugarcane?
We are planning to direct the sugar mills to distribute seeds, nutrients and fertilisers free of cost to the farmers. Besides, in order to support the farmers, we will soon direct the sugar mills to share a certain percentage of profit with them. Sugar mills would also be encouraged to pay advance money to the farmers. We have been discussing the possibility of making these steps legally binding.
Apart from this, we have set up a 10-member committee headed by SA Patil, president, state krishi mission, to study the existing State Advisory Price (SAP) system. This system is prevalent in five states. The committee has been asked to submit a detailed report on the functioning of the system to the government by the end of this month. Based on the report, we will decide on the implementation of SAP in the state.
What other steps has the government taken to help the state’s farmers?
We are working towards the computerisation of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC). The weighing system is also going to be computerised. We are setting up cold storages in the state’s ports, so farmers can store their goods without fear that these will rot. In places like Kolar, we will be setting up mango mandis.
Comments