North Karnataka sugarcane farmers, who have been protesting for nine days in Belagavi district demanding better prices of their produce due to surplus production, on Friday decided to call off their protest. This decision came after the state government announced an increase in the purchase price from Rs 3,200 per tonne to Rs 3,300 per tonne.
The decision to provide a subsidy of Rs 100, of which Rs 50 from the state and Rs 50 from mill owners, in addition to the remunerative rate fixed by the Central government, was taken after a nearly seven-hour-long meeting held by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with sugarcane mill owners in Bengaluru on Friday.
“The government and factory owners have decided to add Rs 50 each to give farmers Rs 3,300 per tonne,” Siddaramaiah announced in Bengaluru on Friday evening. He added that the amount would not include harvesting and transportation costs incurred by farmers and would apply to all forms of sugarcane production.
Soon after the announcement, farmer leaders in Belagavi announced their decision to call off their protest, including blocking the highway near Hukiri in Belagavi, where incidents of stone pelting at government vehicles, along with police arrests, were reported.
There are 81 sugar mills in Karnataka, including 11 cooperative mills, one government-owned mill, and 69 private sugar mills.
Sugarcane farmers from North Karnataka districts of Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Vijayanagara, Bidar, Gadag, Hubli-Dharwad and Haveri have been protesting since October 30 demanding an increase in the price of sugarcane from the current price of INR 3,550 per tonne (including harvesting and transportation costs) announced by the central government.
“In today’s meeting, it was decided that sugar mills will pay Rs 3,250 per tonne for 11.25 per cent of the recovered sugarcane, excluding harvesting and transportation costs. The government has decided to pay an additional Rs 50,” the Prime Minister said.
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The price fixed on Friday is Rs 100 more than the price fixed by the Belagavi district collector. “Almost all the sugar mill owners have agreed to this. Separate rates will be decided from district to district, based on the sugarcane recovery rate. We are confident that the farmers will agree to this,” Siddaramaiah said after the meeting with mill owners.
While 5.6 crore metric tonnes of sugar was produced in the state in 2024, production is expected to cross 6 crore metric tonnes this year.
Earlier, the Belgaum district magistrate held talks with sugar mill owners and a decision was taken to fix the price of sugarcane with a recovery rate of 10.50 per cent at Rs 3,100 and sugarcane with a recovery rate of 11.25 per cent at Rs 3,200. However, the protesting farmers did not agree to the price.
Siddaramaiah writes to PM Modi
On Thursday, the Karnataka CM wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an urgent meeting as well as central approvals to reform sugarcane wages without harvesting and transportation charges.
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“The state government has proactively engaged and held multiple rounds of discussions with all relevant stakeholders. In Belagavi, the Deputy Commissioner advised sugar mills to pay Rs 3,200 per tonne with 11.25 per cent recovery and Rs 2,310 per tonne with 10.25 per cent recovery, excluding harvesting and transportation charges,” the chief minister said.
The Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) fixed by the Center for the 2025-26 season is Rs 3,550 per tonne with a basic recovery rate of 10.25 per cent, but after deducting harvesting and transportation costs, which range between Rs 800 and Rs 900 per tonne, the actual payment reaching the farmer is only about Rs 2,600-3,000 per tonne, Siddaramaiah said.
He added that the prices reaching farmers are unsustainable “due to sharp increases in fertilizer, labour, irrigation and transportation costs.”
“The root of the problem lies in the central policy levers: FRP formula, stagnant Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugar, export restrictions, and untapped ethanol consumption from sugar-based raw materials,” the Karnataka Chief Minister said.
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“Our farmers are demanding a cane price of Rs 3,500 net per tonne (after H&T deductions) and time-bound payments. They insist that this figure does not represent a premium but the minimum required for sustainability of agriculture,” the Karnataka Cabinet letter said.
Siddaramaiah asked the Center to issue a notification allowing states to fix or approve a net price to farmers after harvesting and transportation or authorize mills to absorb the cost of harvesting and transportation “so that a net price of Rs 3,500 per tonne becomes possible”.
“The Center has raised the recovery rate from 9.5 per cent in 2017-18 to 10 per cent in 2021-22. Now it has been increased to 10.25 per cent,” the Prime Minister said in a press conference.
Addressing a press conference, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi urged the Karnataka government to sit with the farmers and solve the problem.
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“I don’t want to make accusations and counter-accusations. The state government should hold a meeting with mills and farmers to arrive at an amicable solution, instead of aggravating the problem further,” Joshi said on Thursday.
(Tags for translation)Karnataka sugarcane farmers
