Belagavi sugarcane price talks fail to reach decision
Farmers demand a total price of Rs 5,500 per tonne and plan a jail bharo agitation.
A meeting convened by the Belagavi district administration on Tuesday evening failed to reach a decision regarding farmers' demands for a sugarcane price of Rs 5,500 per tonne, according to the Deccan Herald.
Farmers are seeking a total price consisting of Rs 4,500 from sugar factories and a Rs 1,000 support price from the state government. They requested an immediate announcement of a first instalment of Rs 4,000 per tonne, followed by the remaining Rs 1,500.
The farmers expressed displeasure over the absence of the Sugar Commissioner and sugar factory owners at the meeting. They also raised concerns regarding alleged malpractices in weighing and recovery assessments by factories, demanding that APMCs install weighing machines to ensure transparency.
Chunnappa Pujeri, state president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene, said increasing the minimum selling price of sugar and resuming the Centre’s procurement of ethanol from factories are essential to enable them to pay farmers up to Rs 6,000 per tonne.
Pujeri urged Chief Minister D K Shivakumar not to take the agitation lightly, stating the protest has grown into a movement. Shashikant Guruji, honorary president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene, said farmers would proceed to Belagavi to court arrest as part of a jail bharo agitation.
Public Works Department and District In-charge Minister Satish Jarkiholi said he could not take a decision single-handedly. Another round of discussions with representatives of farmers’ organisations and sugar factories was scheduled for later that night to attempt to reach a consensus.