Karnataka   

Cane glut worries Karnataka ryots

BANGALORE: A fresh agrarian problem looms over Karnataka this season, threatening to push sugarcane growers into a financial crisis.

The farmers are a worried lot with poor prospects of their sugarcane making to the sugar factories.

Following a favourable monsoon and better pest management, there is a glut in sugarcane production but not a commensurate crushing capacity. The increase in production is also attributed to a steep rise in the area under sugarcane — up to 3.65 lakh hectares in 2007 from around 2.15 lakh hectares a decade ago.

The State, the third largest producer of sugarcane after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, has produced nearly 350 lakh tonnes of sugarcane in the last kharif season. Slump in the sugar prices in the global market and low crushing capacity of factories have added to the growers’ problem.

However, Governor Rameshwar Thakur has said that the Government will announce a relief package in a few days.

The growers had been demanding Rs. 1,200 a tonne of sugarcane against the minimum support price of Rs. 811 fixed by the Union Government for 2007-08.

The factories had paid Rs. 1,100 a tonne during the last season.

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