Balrampur: With each passing days, trouble is escalating for sugarcane farmers. Affected due to non-payment of sugarcane price arrear, farmer Munnu, a resident of Vijayanagar village, has put crops in the field on a blaze. Due to which, three bigha sugarcane was burnt to ashes. Anguish farmer has warned to set 12 bigha of sugarcane on fire if arrear not paid to him immediately. The villagers managed to calm the farmer and controlled the fire.
Cane weighing is halted in Vijayanagar from last ten days because Bajaj sugar mill Itai Maida has not yet paid a cane price of a single farmer. On the other hand, district sugarcane officials are giving huge assurances, and it is increasing the resentment of the sugarcane farmers due to non-execution of it. On January 20, sugar mill officials reached Vijayanagar to hold talks with farmers and convinced them to clear the pending payment in February. Before this, millers promised to pay the dues in the last week of January.
Sugarcane farmer Munnu, who is suffering from financial distress, said, “This year sowing of sugarcane took place in 18 bighas of land. So far I have weighed sugarcane on 12 slips, but not even a single payment has been received. Farming is the only source of mine.”
The rule mandates that cane amount should be deposited to the farmers’ bank accounts within 14 days after the sugarcane harvest is handed over to the factory owners, but millers failed to do so. They are citing their inability to pay farmers the amount, due to falling prices of sugar in the domestic market.
As per reports, mills in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have piled up almost Rs 11,000 crore in payment dues to farmers. The two states account for almost 75 per cent of the sugarcane grown in the country.
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