The sugarcane crushing season in Maharashtra’s Solapur district has gotten off to a rocky start with farmers deciding to emulate what they call the ‘Kolhapur model’ by refusing to transport their produce to the mills till their demands are met. With the issue threatening to delay the crushing season, the Solapur collector has called a meeting on Monday to work out a solution.
The farmers, under the banner of the Solapur Zilla Ooshdar Sangharsha Samiti, are demanding a first installment payment of Rs 2,500/tonne and a final payment of Rs 3,100/tonne. Currently, they are being paid around Rs 2,200/tonne. The decision was taken at the Oosh Parishad (cane conclave) held on October 23. “Till the mill owners do not agree on this, we will not allow them to start operations,” said Sachin Patil, convenor of the Samiti.
This year, Patil said, all farmers’ organisations have decided to work together to ensure that mill owners heed their request. The Samiti has written to individual gram panchayats and 51 sarpanches have issued letters asking farmers not to allow sugarcane to be harvested till the Samiti’s demands are met.
Unlike in the past, sugarcane growers of Solapur are united this year, Patil said. Over the past few weeks, agitating farmers have stopped the transportation of harvested cane to some of the mills in Pandharpur taluka of the district. “On Monday, the Solapur collector has called a meeting of mill owners and agitating farmers to discuss the issues,” he said.
Sugarcane mill owners in Maharashtra decided to start crushing the produce post-Diwali. Officially, the season was to start on October 1 but it was delayed due to extremely heavy rains. As of October 24, 26 mills in the state have started the crushing process and more are likely to follow suit.
Over the years, sugarcane growers in Kolhapur and Sangli have obstructed operations till their demands on cane prices were met. Led by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and its leader Raju Shetti, farmers had forced mills to come to the discussion table and negotiate suitable payment terms. In fact, the movement resulted in Shetti’s rise as a farmer leader and led to him representing the Hatkanangle Lok Sabha seat from Kolhapur district twice.
While Solapur has 37 sugarcane mills, the highest in the state, its farmers so far have failed to put up a united front. In 2014, Patil said, Shetti had protested and ensured that farmers in the district get Rs 2,500/tonne as the first installment price. “However, after that, mill owners have not taken any measures to increase the price although the expenditure on cane has increased manifold,” he added.
