Cane growers in Solapur region, hometown of Maharashtra cooperation minister Subhash Deshmukh, finally got some relief after the deadlock over higher cane prices was broken. The cane growers were agitating for a higher price for a fortnight. Solapur was the last among the cane growing regions where agitation continued for a higher price but the issue which has now been resolved. The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Deshmukh. The breakthrough came after the minister declared a rate of Rs 400 above the fair and remunerative Price (FRP) for his LokMangal Sugar Factory. After a long discussion with leaders of farmer organisation Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, MD of the sugar factory Shahji Pawar said that somewhere a decision was needed to be taken in order to get the season going. “Therefore, after a long discussion, the factory has decided on a rate of Rs 400 above FRP. Farmers will be paid FRP and Rs 300 in a lumpsum and the remaining Rs 100 shall be paid in a month. The other factories in the region should also take a decision, ” he said.
Ravikant Tupkar, leader of SSS said that the agitation has been called off temporarily. The minister has declared this rate and we shall agitate against those mills that do not pay this amount, he said. Mills in Kolhapur and Sangli are willing to pay a first cane installment of FRP and Rs 200 above this sum while millers in Solapur have agreed to pay Rs 400 per tonne above FRP, he said. The amount should be paid to farmers within a period of 14 days of the start of crushing, he said. Solapur region has some 25 mills which may not be a large number but have political significance since the minister belongs to this region and also owns a couple of private mills. Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghathana of MP Raju Shetti, Baliraja Shetkari Sanghatana and the Rayat Shetkari Sanghatana of minister of state Sadashiv Khot had all come together to fight for the farmer’s cause.
This year, Maharashtra’s crushing season started on a stormy note with cane growers taking to the streets demanding higher cane prices for their produce. In Solapur, farmers had asked for Rs 2,700 as the first installment, without any cuts. Usually, the sugar recovery in mills in Solapur is in the range of 9.5-10%. Therefore, FRP In this region comes upto Rs 1,900-2,100 per tonne. Earlier, Maharashtra sugar cooperative federation officials had pointed out that since cane recoveries of different regions are different, making the payment decided by the farmer organisations was economically unviable. Moreover, if the pledge loan ( which is 85% of the value of the sugar bag pledged by mills to the bank), harvesting and transportation costs in considered, there is very little money left with mills, officials had said.
Several cooperative mills in the state have invested in cogen projects which have heavy interest outflows. Sugar prices that were above Rs 3,600 per tonne have dropped to Rs 3,500 per tonne and there is speculation in the market that prices may fall further to Rs 3,200 per tonne, which makes a high first cane installment difficult, the official had said. Meanwhile, Sugar M-30 and S-30 slipped to Rs 3,740-3,940 and Rs 3,730-3,930 from previous levels of Rs 3,780-3,980 and Rs 3,770-3,970 per quintal. According to Indian Sugar Mills Association ( ISMA), the country’s sugar production has touched 13.73 lakh tonne (lt) till November 15 of the ongoing 2017-18 season, up 79 % from the year-ago period.