The Kolhapur district has lost 12,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation due to shortage of water and acute deficit of rainfall in last two years.
The loss of sugarcane crop is mainly due to shortage of rainfall in 2014 and 2015, which led to farmers losing the crop. A couple of days back, farmers from Karvir burned down their sugarcane crop, while sugarcane cultivators chopped its plantation in Shirol and Hatkanangale tehsils. The loss of sugarcane crop is mainly due to shortage of rainfall in 2014 and 2015, which led to farmers losing the crop. A couple of days back, farmers from Karvir burned down their sugarcane crop, while sugarcane cultivators chopped its plantation in Shirol and Hatkanangale tehsils.Farmers from neighbouring districts of Karnataka also supply sugarcane to Kolhapur; hence there will be no shortage of sugarcane at all, Mastoli said.
There are 22 cooperative and private sugar factories in the district and most of them are having a huge crushing capacity. Bhagwan Kate, district head of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, said that there should have been better planning from the district administration to make available water for all needy farmers. In that case, such situation would have been avoided, he said.