Sugar millers from Kolhapur — the sugar belt of Maharashtra — Satara and Sangli, and some parts of Karnataka have decided not to go ahead with cane crushing following the demand by farmers’ body Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) for a first cane installment of the fair and remunerative price plus Rs 200. Following this decision, 70-80 mills in Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Karnataka have not started crushing operations. Some of the mills that had commenced crushing have also decided to stop, industry sources said.
Nearly 32 mills in the state are currently crushing cane. Around 194 mills had applied for crushing licenses. Maharashtra’s season had commended on October 20. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Hasan Mushrif, who chaired a meeting of millers in Kolhapur, said that they have decided not to go ahead with the crushing because they are not in a position to fulfill the demands made by farmer bodies. “The demand is for a fair and remunerative price (FRP) of Rs 2,750 plus Rs200 per tonne (calculated on the base recovery of 9.5%). The valuations by banks is Rs 3,100 per tonne and the demand for the first installment is for `3,817 per tonne at a recovery rate of 12.5%. After pledging, the FRP amount comes up to Rs 1,885 per tonne and mills are falling short of `700-800 per tonne. Moreover, since there is a release mechanism, mills are not allowed to sell beyond the allotted quota and therefore it will be difficult for factories to raise this amount,” he said.
Mushrif said that millers have therefore decided not to go ahead with crushing unless the government intervenes and declares a package for payment of FRP on the lines of the package declared by the Uttar Pradesh government. “The UP government has declared a package of Rs 4,500 crore to enable millers to make FRP payments. Now the ball is in the court of the government,” he said.
Raju Shetti, who heads farmer organisation SSS from Kolhapur, had at the annual cane meet of the Sanghatana declared that no factory would be allowed to start operations unless they pay FRP plus Rs 200 at a recovery rate of 9.5%. After the cane meet in Jaisinghpur, activists of the Sanghatana are stopping vehicles from carrying cane before factory gates. Kolhapur alone has 30 mills.
Jayprakash Dandegaonkar, the new chairman, Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation, said that farmers’ bodies should also think in a practical manner instead of holding millers to ransom. It would be better if this issue is sorted out and season starts smoothly, he said.