Sugarcane farmers protesting against the ‘low’ procurement price attacked the manager of Deshmukh’s factory in Latur.
MUMBAI: This is one deal that Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is not finding sweet. Sugarcane farmers protesting against the ‘low’ procurement price announced by factory owners attacked the manager of Deshmukh’s sugar factory, which is located in Latur.
The agitation is being spearheaded by Shetkari Sanghatana and has spread to various areas in western Maharshtra like Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur. The farmers’ union is demanding that the procurement price be pegged at Rs2200 per tonne, considering the record crop and profits earned by sugar factories. Last year the sugar factories had bought sugarcane at Rs1400 per tonne.
“This is a ridiculous demand which we won’t give,” said Prakash Naik Navre, managing director, Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories.
“The factory owners are bound by the Statutory Minimum Price which the government has set and which we will give. Above that whatever money is to be given is dependent on individual factory owners.”
Shetkari Sanghatana alleges that the sugar factory owners have made profits at their expense. “When the factories buy crops from farmers they are actually short changing them. The different products from this crop bring enough profits to the owner and after tax deduction the owner can afford to pay us at least Rs1800 as advance procurement price,” said farmer leader Raju Shetty.
The sugar industry has played a major role in Maharashtra’s politics since the days of YB Chavan. “We have been exploited by these politicians who have reaped profits on our back. It is known that the sugar lobby decides who becomes the Chief Minister,” added Shetty.
Shetty claims from one tonne of sugarcane the owner gets Rs125-132 per kilogramme for sugar. “An owner earns Rs 350-400 for molasses and power too can be generated from it when it is burnt.
Moreover the crop’s major chunk is sent to distilleries for making alcohol. In short an owner can make more than Rs6,000 per tonne of sugarcane,” says Shetty.
Navre, however, denies these claims. “There has been a fall in the demand for sugar, which has led to a downturn in the industry. The realisation of sugar sales has not been improving. It is at Rs15.50 per kg and we retain only Rs 2. We go by the law of economics,” he says.
But the Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories admits that 600 lakh tonnes of sugarcane will be crushed this year, which is a record. The sugar production is also expected to touch 70 lakh tonnes, which is also a new record.
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