GULBARGA: Sugarcane growers in the district are in distress as a large portion of their produce might go uncrushed this year due to the incapacity of the two sugar factories here to crush all the sugarcane grown in the district.

According to estimates, the total production of sugarcane in the district this year was more than 15 lakh tonnes, and even if the two sugar factories — the Aland Cooperative Sugar Factory and the Renuka Sugar Factory in Havalga in Afsalpur taluk — engage in continuous crushing operations until June-end, more than three lakh tonnes would remain uncrushed.

The Aland factory has the capacity to crush up to 1,500 tonnes a day and the Renuka factory to crush up to 5,000 tonnes a day. When the Aland factory began crushing operations in December last year, it was, for some reason, not accepting all the sugarcane grown in Aland, Afsalpur and Gulbarga district, and was reportedly importing cane from Maharashtra and Indi in Bijapur.

While it has now begun purchasing the produce of these local farmers, it has not been doing so to its full capacity.

It has also gone back on its promise to pay Rs. 1000 a tonne of sugarcane and is now paying Rs. 800 a tonne, saying that this was because of the fall in sugar prices due to the ban on exports.

The Renuka Sugar Factory, which was set up this year, initially had problems with the equipment and was not able, therefore, to take up crushing operations to its full capacity. While the technical problems have been set right, it is doubtful whether the factory will be able to crush all the produce from Afsalpur and parts of Jewargi.

Farmers in taluks such as Chincholi, Jewargi, Shahabad and Chitapur, which do not come under the area of operation of these two factories, are likely to face problems too. Previously, their produce used to be purchased by sugar factories in Bidar. But this year, owing to the glut in the production of sugarcane in Bidar, the factories in that district are reluctant to purchase the produce from heres.

President of the Hyderabad Karnataka Horata Samiti (HKHS) Vaijnath Patil, MLA, has demanded that the Government come to the rescue of the sugarcane growers by announcing a compensation package for those who are not able to get their produce crushed this year.

Meanwhile, sugarcane growers from Aland and Gulbarga taluks have threatened to dump their entire produce at the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Gulbarga city if the factories do not purchase it within eight days.

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