Cane-growers worried over crushing season

Indecisiveness by the State Government has been keeping the sugarcane farmers of Medak, Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts on the tenterhooks. They are worried over what would happen once the sugarcane crushing season commences by November end.

According to sources, sugarcane is being cultivated in about 12,000 acres in Medak, Nizamabad and Karimnagar district under the jurisdiction of three units of Nizam Deccan Sugars Limited (NDSL) and farmers were producing about 4 lakh tonnes of sugarcane per season. The NSDL has its sugar factories at Mambojipally (Medak district), Bodhan (Nizamabad district) and Muthyampet (Karimnagar district). These factories, once famed as Nizam Sugars Limited (NSL), had changed hands as part of the privatisation move in 2002 and were renamed as NDSL.

About 20,000 farmers are believed to be cultivating sugarcane and most of them are worried over the functioning of the crushing units as they are said to be in bad shape and need overhauling. It is alleged that the management is not coming forward to take up the job as the State Government has announced that all the NDSL factories would be taken over by the government. Even Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao during his election campaign repeatedly assured farmers that these factories would be taken back.

“As the Government has promised to take the factory back, the management is not coming forward to take up the job. It needs at least four months for overhauling and if this is not taken up immediately, the machinery may not be ready for running by the time of crushing,” says M. Appi Reddy, convenor, Nizam Sugars Parirakshana Committee, which has been fighting on the issue. He says that the government should immediately implement the decision to save farmers.

Several farmers who cultivated sugarcane under the limits NDSL were also worried about the arrears they were yet to get from the factory. The sugarcane purchase price was decided at Rs. 2,600 in the last season but the farmers allege that they were paid only Rs 2,300 and the remaining amount was yet to be paid. It was stated that the arrears would be approximately around Rs. 10 crore in all the three units. “We are not sure when we will get the amount. We are waiting for arrears,” said V. Nagireddy of Medak.