Devendra Fadnavis government efforts won't help us, say cane growers

Following a violent agitation by sugarcane growers at the Sugar Commissionerate in Pune, the state government woke up on Tuesday and issued notices to 160 sugar factories for not giving to the farmers Fair Remunerative Price (FRP) as mandated by the Centre. There is also a move to seal sugar godowns in order to put pressure on millers so that they give farmers their due.

However, cane growers are not impressed. Instead, they are fearing more trouble now. "Sending notices to sugar mills may help the government as it will be seen as doing something for the poor farmers, but it is not going to help us in anyway. Millers don't have enough money to give the FRP and the Devendra Fadnavis government is yet to come up with a solution to bail them out," says Samit Kadam (30), a cane grower from Sangli.

Farmers are also fearing that sealing of godowns may lead to closure of sugar mills, which will add to their problems than solving them. Sharad Deshmukh (37), another cane grower from Sangli, says, "If the government seals the godowns, millers may close down their mills, which would ruin the farmers. Sugar recovery declines if sugarcane is not crushed in time."

Sugarcane growers have been complaining since December that they were getting only Rs1,500-1,900 per tonne against the FRP of Rs2,200-2,700 per tonne.

Sugar mill owners say falling prices of the sweetener in the international market, excess production, decline of export and tightening of lending by banks are forcing them to sell sugar at cheaper rates for generating cash-flow. Sugar price in the international market is around Rs2,200 and in Indian market Rs2,450 per tonne.

Altogether 174 sugar factories, comprising 98 cooperative and 76 private firms, are involved in the current crushing season in the state which started on November 1. To pay up the FRP, millers demand subsidy from the government. And, according to a minister, the government is unlikely to do so.

Farmers also accuse their leader Raju Shetty, member of parliament and president of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna (SSS), who courted arrest on Monday in support of cane growers, of waking up late. "I have already incurred losses to the tune of Rs30,000 in past two months due to underpayment. Why didn't Shetty launch the protest before? Since he hasn't got a ministry, he's protesting now," says Deshmukh.

Shetty dismisses the charge. "Did other farmer leaders launch any protest? I didn't launch the protest earlier as it would have led to closure of mills. The allegations that I am seeking a ministry are made by rival Congress and NCP guys who own most of the sugar mills in the state," he says.

Farmers also blame BJP ministers, MP and MLAs for keeping mum after coming to power. "Pankaja Munde, Vinod Tawde, Nitin Gadkari and Sanjay Patil all own sugar mills and know the issue well. They had been voicing our concerns before coming to power, but now they keep mum. On the other hand, minister of cooperative Chandrakant Patil is clueless about the solution," alleges a farmer.

It is the same situation in all the sugarcane-growing states. The production of sugar in India has touched 255 lakh tonne this year, 15 lakh tonne up from the previous year, while the demand is for 240 lakh tonne. With 60 lakh tonne stock lying from the previous year, the surplus is 75 lakh tonne.

Mills blame Centre for erred policy, state for apathy

The FRP, which is linked to a basic sugar recovery rate (quantity of sugar produced from the crushed cane), is fixed by the Centre after taking into consideration the cost of production of sugarcane and transportation to mills. It doesn't take sugar price into account though it pains the millers. Vinay Kore, president of Warna sugar mills, says, "Sugar price must be considered for the calculation of FRP to make it more logical and practical."

Millers also accuse the Fadnavis government for apathy. "The state government constituted a committee under the chief secretary to resolve the issue but the panel did not meet even once in past one-and-half months," claimed Kore. He also said that the state must offer subsidy to millers so that they can offer FRP to farmers. Karnataka and UP governments are already offering Rs200 and Rs100 per tonne to the sugar mills to control the situation.

What is FRP?

It's expanded into Fair Remunerative Price, which is linked to a basic sugar recovery rate of 9.5 per cent, subject to a premium of Rs1.46 for every 0.1 percentage point increase in recovery above 9.5 per cent. The recovery rate is the quantity of sugar that is produced from the crushed cane.