Suffering of sugarcane farmers: fair price no government subsidy Late on Friday, a letter sent by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development was sent to Sarlahi by the Sugarcane Farmers Federation. A team of farmers arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday morning after receiving a letter to participate in the meeting posted on Sunday asking them to discuss with the farmers the determination of the selling price of sugarcane.
As many as six sugarcane mills have been put into operation,” said Kapil Muni Mainali, president of the Sugarcane Farmers’ Federation. “When the farmers were desperate because they could not sell sugarcane, we came in a hurry after the government sent a letter.”
In the discussion held in the ministry on Sunday, the ministry proposed to increase the price by only 11 rupees per quintal compared to last year. The farmers’ representatives are angry with the ministry after it proposed the price based on information taken from different places across the country.
He alleged that when the industrialists increased the price of sugar by two times, the government proposed to increase the price of sugarcane by 11 rupees per quintal for the sugarcane farmers.
The price was fixed at Rs 540 per quintal, and Rs 610 was added to the subsidy by Rs 70. After last year’s decision benefited industrialists more than farmers, this year’s proposal is to give more price to farmers.
52 crore in subsidized borrowing
The Ministry of Agriculture has admitted that the government allocated 80 crore rupees for the subsidy in the first phase, but that amount was allocated, but the subsidy was stopped as the remaining amount was not received. Sivakoti, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry, said that around 52 crores of farmers’ subsidy payments are pending.
Subsidy only in the leader’s district
Farmers in districts where they cannot take initiative and do not have influential leaders are deprived of subsidies. According to Kapil Muni Mainali, President of the Sugarcane Producers Farmers’ Federation, when MP Kisan Shrestha forced the farmers of Bara to send the first batch of subsidies, the farmers of that district got paid.
According to the union, farmers are fleeing from sugarcane cultivation day by day due to the problem of not paying the same price on time. In the last 2 years alone, about 30 percent of farmers have left sugarcane farming.
Under this Sugarcane people will feel unable to deal with the situation of price decrease in Nepal while they will be made an unwanted price to see it out there.
But we aren’t getting a reach and are unable to get their price to do. But the farmer will share his own feelings about the price that happens under the sagarcane price in the market place to see there. Even the sagarcane price will be low, unable to make farmers do works on land to do.