Pune: The government and the state's powerful sugar lobby have locked horns over bringing the crop under drip irrigation.
Maharashtra State Co-operative Sugar Factories Federation (MSCSFF), the apex body of sugar mills in the state, has demanded that the state government provide financial assistance to farmers to bring the sugarcane growing area under drip irrigation.
"The government's insistence to shift sugarcane cultivation from flood irrigation to drip irrigation is good. But there are practical difficulties and the government must give financial assistance to implement its plan. Farmers and sugar mills cannot implement drip irrigation on their own," chairman of the federation Shivajirao Nagavade told TOI on Monday.
He added that the sugar industry is the backbone of the rural economy with thousands of farmers and farm labourers dependent on the crop.
"If the government and the experts continue to target sugarcane growing farmers and sugar mills and hold them responsible for the water scarcity, the sugar industry will collapse and farmers will be in distress. Who will be responsible for destroying their livelihoods? Sugarcane is the only crop which guarantees good returns," Nagavade added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently chaired a high-level meeting on the drought and scarcity situation in parts of Maharashtra, has told chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to increase water-use efficiency through drip and sprinkler irrigation, stating that drip irrigation in sugarcane increases the quality of sugar.
Fadnavis has assured Modi that the state government is working on a plan to ensure that all the sugarcane growing area in Maharashtra comes under drip irrigation in three years.
However, the sugar lobby, dominated by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, has been resisting the move and is supported by sugar barons in the BJP and the Shiv Sena.
Nagavade said the notion about cane farmers using excess water is wrong. "Earlier, it was wafa system where the flow was stopped after every few metres to water the cane crop. Now, a majority of farmers use eksari system where water flows from the top to the bottom."
Despite the drought, sugar mills completed their crushing season, this year. As many as 32 sugar mills, the highest in the state, had a successful cane-crushing season.
In Latur district, where section 144 of the CrPC was clamped to protect water sources, 12 sugar mills have been defiantly siphoning off huge quantities of water for sugarcane crushing and the state government, which had earlier announced that no mill in the drought zone would be allowed to crush, remained a silent observer owing to pressure from the sugar lobby.
Latur-based water expert Atul Deulgaonkar said it is a complicated matter. "Even in the drought-affected areas of Marathwada, thousands of farmers are dependent on sugarcane as it is the only crop which gives them assured returns. The government must have a plan before taking any hasty steps while shifting cane cultivation to drip irrigation," he said .