Mysuru: As many as 300 sugarcane farmers staged a protest outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner on Tuesday urging the government to ensure that all the sugar mills in the state implement the orders passed by the Commissioner of Karnataka Directorate of Sugarcane Development and Sugar on December 29, 2022, reports Deccan Herald.
The agitators were obstructed by the police. Additional Deputy Commissioner K Kavitha Rajaram met the agitating farmers and Deputy Commissioner K. V. Rajendra who was out of station spoke with farmers on phone and assured them to resolve their issues in two days.
The protest was led by Kurubur Shanthakumar, president of the State Sugarcane Growers Association.
As per the order the sugar mills producing ethanol must pay Rs 150 per tonne along with Fair Remunerative Price (FRP) to the farmers and sugar mills not producing ethanol should pay Rs 100 per tonne apart from FRP, he said. But the mills have not yet paid this additional money to the farmers, he said.
Around 25 lakh cane farmers are there in the state. There are 78 sugar mills in the state out of which 40 produce ethanol.
