Madurai: Sugarcane farmers making jaggery in their farms as cottage industry are in a spot, as provisions of the sugarcane control order, 1966 have come to haunt them. A group of farmers from Thanichiyam, Kondayampatti, Ayyanagoundampatti from Alanganallur union in Madurai district have petitioned the collector on Monday, complaining that they are not allowed to manufacture jaggery in their fields using the canes not registered with sugarcane mills.

Sugarcane control order, 1966, enacted by the central government to ensure sugar supply as essential commodity does not suffer from shortage, and prohibits free movement of sugarcane from one area to another. Such movement could be carried out after obtaining due permission from the commissioner of sugar in Chennai, which is not an easy task for local farmers.

Till now, sugarcane production was sufficient for Alanganallur National Cooperative Sugar Mills which controls most of the sugarcane farms in the region. Prolonged drought has taken a heavy toll on sugarcane farming. From two lakh tonnes of production per year, the yield this year has shrunk to 50,000 tonnes and it is feared that the sugar mills will not have sufficient sugarcane for the season, official sources at Alanganallur National Cooperative Sugar Mills said.

The district administration, a fortnight ago issued a statement urging farmers to adhere to the sugarcane control order norms and send all sugarcane to Alanganallur mills. On November 25, Vadipatti tahsildar convened a meeting in which the farmers were warned not to indulge in jaggery making failing which crushers and utensils used in the process will be confiscated, the farmers claimed.