Sugar farmers resort to distress selling

LUCKNOW: The growing stalemate between private sugar millers and the Akhilesh Yadav government over cane price has come to cast its shadows over poor farmers who are forced to sell off their produce to local jaggery units at a price as low as Rs 150 per quintal, as against the support price of Rs 280 per quintal.
Farmers say they have taken the step given the urgency to clear the fields for the wheat crop which, if delayed, would lead to lower productivity.Satveer Singh, a small-time farmer in Bijrol village in Baghpat said that the local mill was yet to pay previous year’s compensation. ``Even in the present year there was no sign of the mill starting its operation. We had no option but to sell off our produce to local Kolhu (jaggery unit),'' he said. Singh, who, owns 15 bigha of land said that liabilities were rising over him. ``I had to pay for the loan which I had taken for family purpose,'' he said.
Brahmpal Tomar, convener of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)-backed Chaudhary Charan Singh Vichar Manch, said that scores of farmer are forced to knock at the doors of local jaggery units to get some return of the input cost. He said that the state government was yet to come up with the mandatory reservation area. At the same time, the Central government has failed to impose import duty on sugar which is flooding the market and leading to the dip in the price.
He said that the jaggery units were purchasing high quality sugarcane currently at Rs 180 a quintal against Rs 220 a quintal of FRP announced by the Commission of Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP) for the crushing season 2014-15 (October September). This was also far less than the SAP of Rs 280 per quintal.
Farmers' move is aimed to vacate the cane field for early wheat sowing before December. They are also entering into forward contract with jaggery units at even Rs 150-160 a quintal of cane price as sugar mills have intended not to commence crushing until the state government and the centre jointly decide the final cane policy for the crushing season 2014-15.
Significantly, 66 out of 95 private sugar mills have not yet started maintenance work -- a pre-crushing cleaning of machines and evacuation of cane storage area which marks the beginning of sugar production for the current season. These mills account for 75% of sugar production in the state.
Sugarcane farmers happen to be a major vote bank for any political party in Uttar Pradesh. Not surprisingly, the Akhilesh Yadav government determined cane price at Rs 280 a quintal, over 27% higher than the FRP fixed by the Centre last year. However, with the sustained fall in sugar prices, the overall ex-factory realisation for sugar mills has worked out to be lower than the cost of production. With the sugar price continuing to fall for the past three-four years, mills decided not to start operation this year.