Kolhapur : Farmers’ leader and former MP Raju Shetti on Saturday demanded an initial payment of Rs5,000 per tonne for sugar cane for the upcoming crushing season, warning that farmers will prevent mills from starting operations if this demand is not met.
Addressing the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana’s (SSS) 25th sugar cane conference in Kolhapur, Shetti said soaring production costs and severe drought have worsened the financial difficulties faced by farmers.
He further cautioned that the organisation will indefinitely block national highway traffic at the Kognoli toll booth on the Maharashtra–Karnataka border on October 13 if a favourable decision is not reached during the central government’s scheduled meeting on Oct 12. Highlighting that five crore sugar cane farmers and 1.5 lakh workers and agricultural labourers depend entirely on the industry, Shetti demanded a special financial stability policy. He also urged the government to facilitate loans for private and cooperative sugar factories at a concessional 4% annual interest rate through NABARD, the Sugar Development Fund, or the National Cooperative Development Corporation.