The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sugar yield likely to be 23 lakh tonnes

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Wednesday, Dec 17, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sugar yield likely to be 23 lakh tonnes

Special Correspondent

It was 30 lakh tonnes in 2007-08

BANGALORE: Sugar production in the State is expected to touch 23 lakh tonnes by crushing 220 lakh tonnes of sugarcane in 2008-09. The State produced 30 lakh tonnes of sugar by crushing about 300 lakh tonnes of sugarcane in 2007-08.

Following the glut in 2007-08, many farmers desisted from cultivating the crop and the production of sugarcane has declined by 25 per cent this year, Minister for Sugar and Agricultural Marketing Shivaraj S. Tangadagi told presspersons here on Tuesday.

Sugarcane production is likely to touch 300 lakh tonnes in 2008-09 against 375-400 lakh tonnes last year. The factories would crush about 220 lakh tonnes while the rest would go to the jaggery units, he said.

The farmers, this season, are a worried lot with no change in the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the Union Government. Despite an increase in the cost of cultivation, minimum support price has been fixed at Rs. 811.50 by the Union Government for 2008-09, same as that of the last year (2007-08).

Following the plea by farmers to increase the price of sugarcane, the Government has instructed factories of north Karnataka and south Karnataka to pay Rs. 1,200 and Rs. 1,100 per tonne, respectively. The sugar price per quintal ranges from Rs. 1,600 to Rs. 1,650 while the price for molasses ranges from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 400 per tonne, the Minister said.

The farmers associated with Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), All India Kisan Sangh (AIKS) and State Sugarcane Growers Association have threatened to launch an agitation next month if the Government failed to increase the sugarcane prices.

The growers have been demanding Rs. 1,550 a tonne of sugarcane, the price recommended to the Union Government by the Commission for Agricultural Cost and Price (CACP) for nine per cent recovery of sugar per tonne of cane.

During the President’s Rule last year, Governor Rameshwar Thakur had announced a bailout package and granted an additional Rs. 160 per tonne to farmers and this has amounted to Rs. 370 crore.

The Government has decided to give four sugar cooperative factories to private managements on a contract basis. They are Vanivilas Cooperative Sugar Factory, Hiriyur; Bhadra Cooperative Sugar Factory, Davangere; Bheemashankar Cooperative Sugar Factory, Indi; and Bhyagyalakshmi Cooperative Sugar Factory, Belgaum.

Tenders would be called soon to handover factories to private managements.

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