The Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association, under the banner of the All India Sugarcane Farmers Federation (AISFF), has announced plans to hold a Belagavi Chalo protest outside the Suvarna Soudha on December 12. The protest will demand the fixation of the Fair Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane at ₹5,000 per tonne and call for the government’s intervention in settling long-overdue payments for sugarcane supplied to various sugar factories.
N.L. Bharatraj, state secretary of the Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association, and Sharanabasappa Mamshetty, district president of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, addressed the press on Friday, urging the Centre to lower the sugar recovery rate to 8.5% from the current 10.25%.
For the 2024-25 season, the FRP for sugarcane has been set at ₹340 per quintal with a recovery rate of 10.25%, an 8% increase from the previous season. The leaders are demanding a revision of the FRP to ₹5,000 per tonne at an 8.5% recovery rate.
Mamshetty also criticized the sugar factories for charging high rates for harvesting and transporting sugarcane, with prices varying between ₹588 per tonne for 5 km and ₹661 per tonne for 20 km.
The association has called for strengthening the Sugarcane (Control) Order of 1966 to better protect the interests of sugarcane farmers. A total of 350 sugarcane growers from Kalaburagi district are expected to join the protest.
