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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Explained: Why farmers in the sugar bowl of Western Maharashtra are angry -Parthasarathi Biswas

Explained: Why farmers in the sugar bowl of Western Maharashtra are angry -Parthasarathi Biswas

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published Published on Jan 15, 2019   modified Modified on Jan 15, 2019
-The Indian Express

Farmers protested violently over the weekend in support of their demand for a one-time payment of the fair and remunerative price. Ballooning cane dues could become a major issue as LS polls near.

Pune: Sugarcane farmers in western Maharashtra Monday called off their violent four-day-old agitation, giving sugar mill owners and the government two weeks to find the money to pay them their full dues. The agreement was reached after daylong meetings between farmers and representatives of sugar mills, allowing the mills to resume crushing operations in evening.

Protesters led by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana had paralysed harvesting and transportation of sugarcane between Friday and Sunday. Offices of both cooperative and private sugar mills had been attacked, vandalised and shut down by farmers in the sugarcane heartland of Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Solapur districts, and sugarcane trucks on the Pune-Bengaluru highway were stopped near Tandulwadi in Sangli.

This region accounts for 60% of Maharashtra’s, and 30% of India’s, sugar production. What are the issues in the unrest?

* What triggered this round of sugarcane farmers’ protests?

The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana led by Raju Shetti has consistently opposed the decision of sugar mills to pay the fair and remunerative price (FRP) in instalments, and demanded payment in one go. Two months into the crushing season, mills in Maharashtra have done poorly in the payment of FRP. Figures published by the Maharashtra government’s Commissionerate of Sugar show that until December 31, mills owed farmers a cumulative Rs 4,575.53 crore — of the total payable FRP of Rs 7,450. 89 crore, farmers had received only Rs 2,875.36 crore. As many as 74 factories, mostly in the districts of Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara, have still not made any payments to farmers. Taken together, cane dues in the states of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, which account for almost 75% of the crop grown in the country, have already crossed Rs 11,000 crore, and arrears are set to peak around April.

* Why are sugar mills unable to pay farmers their dues?

Thanks to assured irrigation and conducive climate, sugar mills in this region are able to realise higher amounts of sugar per tonne of cane crushed. As the FRP of cane is linked to its sugar recovery, the average rate payable to farmers here is around Rs 2,850 per tonne net harvesting and transportation charges. This is huge compared to, say, Pune or Ahmednagar, where farmers get an average net FRP of around Rs 2,200-2,300 per tonne. Growers in Marathwada have an even lower realisation.

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The Indian Express, 15 January, 2019, https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/simply-put-why-are-farmers-in-the-sugar-bowl-of-western-maharashtra-angry-5538469/?fbclid=IwAR2V0qDDfyIHNk-ZBTEIESQJUb


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