Thanjavur: Farmers who cultivated sengarumbu (Canes harvested during Pongal are popularly known as sengarumbu) have voiced their dissatisfaction with the government’s failure to increase the procurement price for sugarcane intended for distribution in the Pongal gift hamper scheme for the year 2024, reported The Hindu.
In a memorandum sent via email to Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, Sundara Vimalanathan, the Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association, expressed disappointment at the decision to maintain the procurement price at ₹33 per cane, the same as last year. Vimalanathan highlighted that officials were well aware of the sugarcane cultivators’ increased input costs, which had risen by approximately 25% compared to the cultivation expenses incurred last year.
Advocating for an upward revision of the sugarcane cost to ₹40 per cane, he also called for an increase in the cash dole from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000 under the gift hamper scheme.
