Sugarcane farmers in Andhra Pradesh have demanded the Government to declare a support price of Rs 3,500 a tonne against the Rs 1,700 price presently paid to the farmers.
They said that they have decided to stop cane farming, till governments and factories ensure remunerative prices.
To start with, members of the Federation of Sugar Cane Growers’ Associations will reduce the area under cane cultivation.
“The cost of production has gone up enormously. The recent increase in diesel price would increase the cost of production by at least Rs 5,000 an acre. As it is, the cost of production had gone up to Rs 1.30 lakh an acre. The yields are not crossing the 30-tonne mark,” members of the Federation of Sugarcane Growers Associations (Andhra Pradesh), said.
The members, who met at Vijayawada on Tuesday evening, have called for a tripartite meeting with representatives from farming community, the State Government and sugar factories.
It asked the Central and the State Governments to take measures to ensure a support price of Rs 3,500.
The members also asked the State Government to announce a State Advisory Price (SAP) of Rs 1,000 a tonne, taking a cue from the examples in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana.
“With the cost of labour shot up, the meeting has passed a resolution, calling the Governments to encourage setting up a unit each in all sugar factories with all machines required for sugar cane farming and harvesting,” N.S.V. Sharma, Secretary of the Federation, told Business Line.
The Federation also wanted the Centre to expedite the proposal that seeks to give 50 per cent of all income the factories generated through sale of by-products.
Summing up on the outcome of the meeting, Sharma felt that the farmers could get more income if the government lifted the control on molasses price and increased ethanol price.