Karnataka: Cane Farmers From Across State March to Vidhan Soudha, Demand Higher FRP

Bengaluru: Thousands of farmers across Karnataka reached the capital city today to protest against revision of FRP (fair and remunerative price) paid to sugarcane growers. The farmers marched from the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna railway station to the state legislature, Vidhana Soudha, to meet Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

In August, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, had announced a Rs. 5/quintal hike in FRP for sugarcane, providing a premium of Rs 2.90 per quintal for each 0.1% increase in recovery over 10% and reduction in FRP by Rs 2.90 per quintal for every 0.1 per cent decrease in recovery (the recovery rate refers to the amount of sugar extracted from sugarcane).

The new rate is Rs. 290/quintal or Rs. 2,900/tonne. However, farmers in Karnataka were unhappy with the hike and decided to march to Bengaluru to demand a revision in FRP.

Among the protesters is Ravi Kumar, 30, from Gadag, who cultivates sugarcane in 10 acres and paddy in 10 acres. He said: “The department of agriculture has accepted that the cost of production for one tonne of sugarcane is Rs. 3,200, but the Central government has fixed a rate of Rs. 2,900 per tonne. This is a loss for the farmer. A Rs. 5/quintal hike is not sufficient as labour and fuel costs have gone up”.

Monday’s protest was organised by the Rajya Kabbu Belegarara Sangha (Sugarcane Growers’ Association). Led by the association president, Kurubur Shanthakumar, the protestors raised slogans against the government and the police for blocking their march to the legislature. They also condemned the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, on October 3. The Minister of State for Agriculture in Karnataka, BC Patil, arrived at the location and briefly interacted with protestors. 

Exploitation by Sugar Mills

The protestors had arrived from various districts of Karnataka. Devaraj, the state organising secretary of the association, spoke about the ways in which sugar mill owners “cheat” the farmers. 

“We are paid on the basis of sugar content in the cane. The mill owners claim the recovery is less than the actual content. If the sugar recovery is 11%, they claim it is less than 10% and pay accordingly. This way, the mill owners are cheating the farmers. Moreover, the mill owners get various byproducts as well – molasses -- with which they make liquor and bagasse, which they use to produce electricity. The Central government has also allowed the mills to produce ethanol. One litre of ethanol can be sold for Rs. 59 and 100 litres can be extracted from one tonne of cane. Mill owners make large profits, however, we farmers receive a paltry sum,” he said. 

Some of the farmers claimed they had not yet been paid by mill owners. 

Sommanna, 41, from Chamarajanagar district, said:  “Earlier, we used to receive payment two months after supplying the cane to mills, this time, we held a protest and after that our dues were cleared within 15 days of supplying the cane. But the FRP is not sufficient. In our view, it should be revised to Rs. 5,000/tonne”.