MYSORE: Resentment among farmers over the Government's "failure" to fix a lucrative support price for sugarcane has intensified. Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) has threatened to stage an agitation in support of its demands.

The sangha's agitation plan comes close on the heels of a similar protest staged by Mysore-Chamarjanagar Sugarcane Farmers Association recently. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, KRRS leaders including K.S. Puttananaiah and Badagalpur Nagendra said that the Government's "failure" to fix support price for sugarcane had encouraged sugar mill owners to have the last word on price.

By-products

They demanded a minimum support price of Rs. 1,500 for a tonne of sugarcane and said it was justified as sugar mill owners benefited from the by-products generated while processing sugarcane. Farmers in Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar were in dire straits owing to the poor procurement price fixed by the factories.

The sangha members said that they had urged the Government to convene a meeting and take a final decision on it.

The sangha has threatened to lay siege to the office of the Deputy Commissioner on Thursday if the Government fails to meet its demands by then.

Mr. Puttanaiah said that the Chief Minister, who was the chairman of the high-powered committee, should convene a meeting at the earliest.

"The Government is only interested in NICE and mines and least bothered about the predicament of farmers whose condition is deteriorating with each passing day," Mr. Puttanaiah said.

The leaders said that most of the sugar mills in the region were either closed or being managed badly and hence the farmers were left in dire straits.

They said that only a sugar mill run by a cooperative on Belgaum-Maharashtra border was paying Rs. 1,750 for a tonne and extending subsidy to the tune of Rs. 10,000 for cultivators in addition to providing funds for children's education.

"Other sugar mills should emulate this factory", KRRS leaders said.

Martyrs' Day

The sangha would observe July 21 as "Martyrs' Day" in Dharwad as it was on this day in 1980 that farmers rose in rebellion against the "exploitation" by the Government.

The meeting would discuss issues such as total insurance for crops; need for a power policy and for providing wages in a scientific manner; rational support price for farmers; crop insurance against floods and drought; need to rejuvenate water bodies and the impact of globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation on rural life.

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