The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Cane-growers want sugar factories to allow E-15 variety

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Tuesday, Sep 15, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Cane-growers want sugar factories to allow E-15 variety

Staff Reporter

Ryots forced to use 298-A variety as it is profitable for factory managements

298 variety gives poor yield and more prone to pest attack, says farmers’ leader
Sugar from old variety can be distributed through the PDS, according to him

TANUKU: The sugarcane growers are craving for a change in 298-A variety, which has been popularly in use in line with the dictum of the factory managements in West Godavari district. The district-level cane-growers’ meeting held here on Monday under the aegis of the Andhra Pradesh Cheruku Rytula Sangham (APCRS) adopted a resolution to this effect following a plea by several farmers for revival of the E-15 variety as a substitute for the current variety..

The farmers are forced to use the 298-A variety as it proved to be highly profitable for the factory managements in terms of sugar recovery rate and export value. In pure white, sugar recovered from the 298 variety of cane seems to be more attractive to exporters.

But, from farmers’ point of view, it gives poor yield and is more prone to pest, B. Balaram, secretary of the district committee of the Andhra Pradesh Rytu Sangham, said. The district has reportedly witnessed a drastic fall in sugarcane area from 33,000 ha to 15,000 ha because of the insistence by the factory management in favour of the 298-A variety, which was considered quite unfriendly to growers.

Akula Hareram of the Rytu Sangham said the sugarcane area came down by 2,000 ha under the purview of Andhra Sugars in Tanuku division alone.

‘No future’

Yenugula Balaram, a grower from Mortha of Undrajavaram mandal, said there would be no future for the sugarcane crop in the district if the farmers were not allowed to revert to the E-15 variety. Although the variety used to give the growers a bumper yield of 60-70 tons per acre, it was disallowed by the factory managements on the ground that it got poor export value and has poor sugar recovery rate. “The old variety is more pest-resistant and farmer-friendly, sugar recovered from the E-15 variety could be supplied to the public distribution system domestically,” Mr. Balaram said. Samineni Rama Rao, general secretary of the APCRS, wanted a blanket ban on import of sugar. Growers were resorting to suicide for want of support price, he said.

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