BURALIKSON (GOLAGHAT), Nov 22 - With confidence in hearts and hopes in minds several sugarcane farmers of different districts of the State here said that the graph of economic prosperity in many backward areas of the State would step-up soon if government in Centre and the State set up a sugar-mill for the optimum use of their quality agricultural produce.
All the old sugar mills in Baruabamun Gaon, Cachar and other areas were closed down years ago because of the poor management and loss due to the negligence on the part of government and the absence of the mills lowered the actual market price of the sugarcane in the State, they said.
Participating in a farmers’ fair at the premises of Sugarcane Research Station of Assam Agricultural University at Buralikson area here on Saturday over 300 sugarcane farmers got refreshed to work harder for large scale plantation as the scientists narrated them about the benefits of newly developed high-yielding varieties of crops.
For the absence of sugar mill in the State tons of sugarcane, produced by the farmers in the fertile agrarian belt of Golaghat, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, Dhemaji, Morigaon and several other districts are used only for jaggery and juice.
“Despite the loss and damage caused by the wild-elephants and monkeys in many areas we could reap profit from sugarcane plantation in Golaghat. As most of the low-lying areas are fertile for this crop every year we reap the benefit. Though the State produce large quantity of sugarcane our farmers do not get proper price due to the absence of sugar mill,” said an elderly farmer of Golaghat district.
With an appeal to the Centre and the State best-known farmer and promoter of the sugarcane-farming Probin Bora said that if government authority does not take initiative to set up atleast a single sugar mill the farmers will be remaining deprived of the proper benefit.
Expressing concern about the frequent efforts of different political persons to woo the sugarcane farmers with false promises in different periods of times the well known farmer Bora requested all the members of the farming community not to be lulled by those kinds of political personalities, who can play only with the sentiment of people without seeking solutions to the problems.
“I request everyone of our farmers to avoid all those people of vested political interest. If all of us work systematically for the agricultural development of the State we the farmers will be able to control the decision-makers in government in future. Our State bears the optimum potential for sugarcane farming which is yet to be tapped,” said farmer Probin Bora.
Along with him several other sugarcane farmers recounted the immense-contribution of the chief scientist Dr Bijnan Chandra Bordoloi and other staffs of the Sugarcane Research Institute of AAU which has provided guidance and solutions during different periods of crisis to the farmers across the State.
Most of them recounted the contributions of AAU vice chancellor Dr Kamal Malla Bujarbaruah who reenergised the research institute with minimum possible infrastructure and required support to the scientists, workers and other staffs in the remote Buralikson area of Golaghat where no mobile phone works for poor network.
But, despite several problems experts have been leaving no stone unturned to provide guidance to the farmers. Suggesting the use of modern day techniques in farming AAU’s director of research Dr GN Hazarika advised all the farmers to be smart to know better about the markets and the demands of their produce.