Mahottari, January 5: Farmers in the district do not seem interested in cultivating sugarcane anymore because of the hassles they face getting paid for their produce. The sugar mills located there have been refusing to reimburse them on time though such farmers need to spend much labour and investment in producing sugarcane.
The cane was cultivated as a major cash crop in some 18,000 bighas of land as recent some 20 years back. But the cultivation declined so sharply that the production is limited to only 7,000 bighas of land this year. Last year, the cash crop was grown in 11,000 bighas of land. Currently, out of the 7,000 bighas of land, second part of cultivation is still going in 4,500 bighas of land. After the second part of current sugarcane is harvested, the land is prepared for other kinds of crops.
The hassles faced by the farmers suggest that the sugarcane farming will continue to go down in the days to come said Chairperson of Sugarcane Production Farmers in the district, Naresh Singh Kushwaha.
The sugarcane, which is cultivated with much labour and investment, is harvested once in year. As the sugar mills fail to pay the farmers on time, they are bound to reduce cultivation, Kushwaha added.
A farmer from Ramnagar of Gaushala municipality-1, Dhan Lal Sashan said, “Earlier, we used to think even the sugar mills favours our business. It was ok even when they paid us in six months. But, as they failed to pay for years, the interest declined in cultivating sugarcane.”
One of the sugar mills-Everest Sugar Mill, which did not pay sugarcane farmers for long is in Gaushala municipality-1. Similarly, Brahmadev Mahato, observed, “The farmers can return to sugarcane cultivation only after the government ensures convincing atmosphere for it.” He stressed that the sugarcane farmers must be provided seeds, fertilizers, subsidized loan, timely payment are essential for farmers to revive the cash crop, he stressed. RSS
