सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Mahottari. The industry that used to produce sugar till Baisakh a decade ago is now facing a sugarcane shortage in Falgun. Everest Sugar and Chemical Industries (colloquially Everest Sugar Mill, Everest Sugar Mill) located in Gaushala-1 Ramnagar, Mahottari, is facing a sugarcane shortage in Falgun, when crushing should be busy this year.
The industry has faced a sugarcane shortage soon after cultivation decreased significantly compared to a decade ago. Sugarcane cultivation in the district, which exceeded 15,000 bighas a decade ago, has been declining for the last four/five years and is now around eight thousand bighas. This is also because the industry has been gradually easing the payment of sugarcane for the last three years, and the increased cultivation has now reached eight thousand bighas, said Naresh Singh Kushwaha, president of the Sugarcane Producers Farmers Association, Mahottari. Kushwaha recalled that three years ago, cultivation in the district had dwindled to five thousand bighas.
‘Farmers are giving up farming because they are not getting a fair price for sugarcane and have to wait for years for payment,’ Kushwaha said. ‘After the industry made payments easier in the last three years, cultivation has increased slightly and now has reached around eight thousand bighas.’ However, he says that the farmers are discouraged because the price is not fixed properly.
The industry, which used to crush sugarcane until Baisakh, has not been able to crush at full capacity in Falgun due to a shortage of sugarcane. This year, the industry, which started crushing on November 26, had to reduce its capacity for several days due to ‘no cane’ (sugarcane shortage), said Surendra Shukla, general manager of the industry. ‘We have reduced our capacity for 23 days in the meantime due to lack of sugarcane, and during this period, we have had to stop production for 135 hours,’ said Shukla, ‘Today, we have been collecting sugarcane for three days and producing sugar for only 10 hours at night.’ He said that despite public appeals to provide sugarcane to farmers soon, the supply has not increased much.’
The main reasons for the sugarcane shortage in the industry in Falgun are the decrease in cultivation, farmers crushing sugarcane themselves, and industries from various districts purchasing sugarcane. Association President Kushwaha, however, has accepted the decrease in cultivation as the main reason. “The main thing is that farming is declining. Sugarcane prices are not determined by adjusting the ratio of sugar prices, farming costs and price increases of various goods,” Kushwaha said. “This year, we had demanded that the sugarcane price should be at least Rs 750, but the government has increased the price by only Rs 20 per quintal compared to last year, which has not awakened the enthusiasm of farmers in farming.” Last year, the sugarcane price offered by the industry was Rs 565 per quintal. In addition, the government will provide a subsidy of Rs 70 per quintal.
Farmers are demanding that the current price increase and the market price of sugar beet be taken into account when determining the price of sugarcane. Kushwaha says that both farmers and the industry are suffering due to this. He said that although the soil and climate in most parts of the district are suitable for sugarcane cultivation, farmers have not shown any interest in increasing cultivation due to the price.
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