Sugarcane growers from across the district staged a protest in Kalaburagi on Friday seeking fixation of procurement price of ₹5,000 per tonne.
Carrying sugarcane, the farmers staged the protest under the aegis of Karnataka Pranth Raitha Sangha (KPRS) in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Kalaburagi.
Leading the agitation, KPRS leader Sharanabasappa Mamshetty and cane growers Siddaram Dhannur and Subhash Jewargi claimed that the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) ₹2,900 per tonne announced by the Centre did not cover the cultivation cost and the Centre should increase the FRP to ₹5,000 per tonne for a recovery of 9.5%.
The protesting farmers alleged that Renuka Sugars and KPR Sugar Ltd. in Afzalpur taluk were getting sugarcane from parts of Vijayapura district and some border villages in Maharashtra and the local local sugarcane growers were neglected. They urged that the district administration intervene and issue instructions to all sugar factory managements so that sugarcane procured from local sugarcane growers was taken for crushing first.
The sugarcane also appealed to the State Government to direct the sugar mills to immediately clear the pending dues of the sugarcane crushed during last season. The sugar mills should also share the profits generated from the ethanol and other byproducts, the protesting farmers demanded.
