The State government, representatives of sugar factories and sugar cane growers on Tuesday arrived at a consensus on the rate for harvesting and transport of the produce, at a meeting chaired by Co-operation Minister H S Mahadev Prasad.

Accordingly, it was decided that going by the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) fixed by the Union government, the price for sugar cane with a yield rate of 9.5 pc was fixed at Rs 2,300 per metric tonne. An additional Rs 232 would be paid per unit increase in the yield. The government will issue a notification on price fixation in a week, the minister said.

The farmers leaders in the meeting demanded that the government direct the factories to pay Rs 540 for harvesting and transporting a tonne of sugar cane for 50 km, Rs 480 for additional 25 km and Rs 490 for every additional 30 km.  

The minister promised that the demand would be looked into. If the factories pay for harvesting and transport, the amount would be suitably adjusted in the FRP to be paid to the farmers.

‘Reduce price’
The representatives of the sugar factories, who were present at the meeting expressed their inability to pay FRP to the farmers and urged the government to reduce the price. Sources said that the minister told the factory representatives that they must clear the arrears before expecting co-operation from the government. 

Factories yet to pay
According to the Sugarcane Growers’ Association President Kurubur Shanthkumar, the factories have not paid a single rupee to farmers during 2014-15. 

The minister said that the factories have to pay arrears of RS 364 crore for the year 2013-14 and the amount is Rs 600 crore for 2014-15. “The government has seized the sugar stock and the factories have obtained a stay from the court. They (factories) are finding it difficult to pay FRP. The Centre would be urged to provide a relief of Rs 470 per tonne of sugar cane,” he said.