Farmers from Mysuru and surrounding regions staged a demonstration in the city on Tuesday seeking redressal of their grievances and to protest against what they described as apathy of the officials in addressing their problems.
The protest demonstration was led by Karnataka Sugarcane Cultivators Association which also flayed the government for delay in announcing the State Advisory Price (SAP) for sugarcane as a result of which farmers were facing financial uncertainty.
Kurubur Shanthakumar, president of the association, said some of the private sugar companies were paying rates that were less by ₹350 per tonne compared to the procurement price of last year.
He said the farmers were being exploited and even the transportation and harvesting charges were being hived off from the final remittance. The farmers who had assembled at the Mysuru Taluk Office premises, also flayed the apathy of the officials in resolving some of their problems
Though vegetable prices are crashing or the yield has declined due to water logging in the fields, the authorities had not convened a single meeting so far to listen to the farmers grievances, said Mr. Shanthakumar.
The farmers’ association urged the district administration to conduct a survey of crop loss and fix a suitable compensation to help farmers tide over their financial crisis. The farmers submitted a memorandum to the tahshildar and cautioned that if their demands were not made within a week, they would intensify the agitation and block all roads to press for early resolution of their grievances.
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