The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Sugarcane farmers ask mills to fix price

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Monday, Jan 21, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Sugarcane farmers ask mills to fix price

Staff Reporter

Crushing goes on in all 3 sugar mills

Zaheerabad-based Trident Sugar Mills offers Rs. 811.50 per tonne
Transport subsidy of Rs. 150 a tonne for every 150 km assured

Sangareddy: Even as the Government is mulling on a remunerative price to sugarcane, crushing has been going on in full steam in all the three major sugar mills of Medak district. Farmers with leftover cane from the previous season were forced to supply the deteriorating cane along with the current year’s cane to the designated sugar mills.

While the farmers demanded Rs. 1,500 per tonne, the managements expressed their inability to concede to it citing the prevailing low rates on sugar and molasses. The manufacturers in a meeting with the State government recently pointed out that this year’s offer price could even be less than last year’s price of Rs. 1,225.

Rasta roko

Meanwhile, sugarcane farmers organised a ‘rasta roko’ near Budhera on the national highway nine on Saturday demanding the Ganapathi Sugar Mills to announce the price right away.

The Zaheerabad-based Trident Sugar Mills has offered a price of Rs. 811.50 per tonne on nine per cent recovery rate, which comes to around Rs. 848 per tonne as the actual recovery rate is as much as 9.4 per cent.

The farmers hope that the Rs. 60 purchase tax offered by the Government as a payment to farmers from its side would take the total price to Rs. 908 per tonne.

However, the Government order has not reached the sugar factories. Crushing is going on at the Nizam Deccan Mill and Ganapathi Sugar Mills in Medak and Fasalwadi without any assurance on the price. Zaheerabad farmers also have to receive last year’s arrears of Rs. 5 crore from the Ganapathi Sugars. The farmers have transported their sugarcane to Fasalwadi as per the direction of the Government .

The farmers were assured transport subsidy of Rs. 150 per tonne for every 150 kms travelled to transport the cane.

The amount is said have reached the district administration and the farmers hope that this would ease the debt burden on them. Sugarcane farmers in the district expect that low acreage this year would turn the tables in their favour.

The jaggery-makers of Medak revenue division who are still holding on to last year’s stocks looking for some aid from the State as the demand from Maharashtra has plummeted due to excess production there.

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