State sugar cane growers want to stop farming, blame Central govt

After 2 years, the Central Government fixed FRP for sugarcane with a raise of Rs 25 per quintal. Shocked farmers want to stop sugarcane farming and shift crop. Sugar shortage is expected in future, making it inevitable to import sugar.

The shortage of sufficient rains has caused sugarcane crops to diminish over the years and with the Central Government fixing the Fair and remunerative price (FRP) with an increase of mere Rs 25 per ton, after a wait of two years, the State farmers are losing interest in sugarcane farming altogether and want to shift crops.

The sugar production in the State has drastically reduced due to scarcity of rains since two years. In such a situation, the Central Government fixing the FRP at Rs 255, increasing a meager increase of Rs 25 per quintal in two years has disappointed the farmers. Hence the sugarcane farmers are facing severe loss, said Kurubur Shanthakumar, State Sugarcane Growers Association.

The farmer incurs an expense of Rs 3,000 per acre in per crop. According to the FRP now the farmer gets only Rs 2,550 as returns. Hence, it is a losing battle for farmers. They have decided to stop growing sugarcane and shift to some other crop. This will have serious consequence on sugar production in future, that may force increased import of sugar from other countries.

The State recorded a sugarcane production of 3.76 crore metric ton previous year and in the current year, it has come down to 2 crore metric ton. The sugar price per quintal has gone up from Rs 2,700 to Rs 45,000. The increase is attributed to shortage of sugarcane crop. The Central government is already importing 10 lakh metric ton sugar from China and Brazil.  This may escalate if the sugarcane shortage continues.

The State government has stopped giving support price and subsidy (SAP) to sugarcane farmers. During 2013-14, the government sanctioned Rs 150 per ton SAP but discontinued.

However, JC Prakash, Commissioner, Sugarcane Development Board, has said that the FRP is fixed based on the quantity of sugarcane grown Statewise. The FRP fixed may facilitate the State farmers and if good rains are received the sugarcane crop may be good, he wished.