Sugar woes

Pune: The road towards the Sakhar Sankul at Shivajinagar in Pune, was flooded with thousands of farmers wearing white caps and flags gathered together to protest against the government and press their demands. The agitation named ‘Kaifiyat Morcha’ (Protest to express issues) was organised by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana under the leadership of MP Raju Shetti here on Friday.

The leaders were standing on the open van to address the mass that had gathered. Most of them were attentively listening, responding to their leaders cries, some taking  a nap on the street-side in the scorching heat of the afternoon sun.

Every farmer has his own calculations in his mind and is hopeful that his leader will solve all his problems. Coming from different parts of the state, some discuss the plastic ban of the state government while others compare the cost of mineral water to the cost of milk procured by dairies.

Raosaheb Chougule looks tired, keeping his cloth handbag tied to his left hand with a book in the other which he has just now purchased after its publication in the rally. He reads a few pages from the book, a guideline for farmers about laws related to their rights and remedies.

“I sold 55 tonnes of sugarcane to the Warananagar Sugar factory in January this year. I have not received a single penny yet. Sometimes people feel that sugarcane farmers are wealthy and rich. But that is not the case,” Chougule narrates, adding, “I have four acres of land but not a single rupee in my hand right now. The dilemma of the cane grower is complicated and critical and nobody seems to understands it. Our only hope is a leader who can convey our message to the government.”

The 64 year old is among the thousands of farmers from western Maharashtra who grow cane prominently and have a huge share in the massive sugar production of the state. Sugarcane farmers are facing problems due to delay in the payments from Sugar factories for this season, which has been a repetitive theme in recent years. Some sugar factories have disbursed the first instalment of FRP (Fair and Remunerative Price) while few others have failed to release even a single rupee.

Raosaheb has no other mean to earn his living than this mere piece of land and his lone buffalo.

He puts flag on the ground, diligently folding it to narrate his problem. “ My son does odd jobs in the nearby industrial area on a contract basis. He also helps in farming. We used to have 11 cattles, milk from whom helped us in survival. But thanks to dairy politics and the shabby state of its economics, this is no more a profitable business.  We are left with no option than borrowing money from private money lenders.”

Photo Credits- Angad Taur

The Puntambe village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra witnessed some of the earliest protests under the new dispensation, by farmers who started dumping vegetables, farm produce and thousand of litre milk on streets. A fair price for their farm produce and a blanket loan waiver and implementation of Swaminathan commission recommendations were the major demand of farmers. The protests soon spread across the state.

During protest on 6 July last year five farmers at Mandsour in Madhyapradesh were killed in police firing. Similar protest in other parts of country were also reported.

A Long March from Nashik to Mumbai organised by All India Kisan Sabha received wide response across the state demanding a blanket loan waiver and tribal land rights.

This year on June 4, in Rajasthan, prices of vegetables soared high while procurement of milk was also hit in many regions as a farmers agitation, lasted for 10 days demanding MSP to milk and other agricultural produce.

As the discontent between the farming communities grew, farmer’s leaders took to the center stage and after many successful protests, the state’s farmers had found their voice in MP Raju Shetti. Shetti, who was an important ally for the BJP, divorced the NDA coalition by alleging that the BJP had betrayed the promise to solve farmers issues.

Prakash Balwadkar, an activist with the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana,  elaborated the objective of the agitation. “It has been six months since the sugar factories procured crops from the farmers. They got a huge applause for the bumper production of sugar this year. But when it came to the payment of the  farmers, an amount of 1500 crores in arrears is still pending with sugar factories,” He said, adding, “They are using farmers money for personal reasons. We have placed our demands to the sugar commissioner before the media. And if this is not fulfilled, we will have state wide agitation.”

An increase in the rates of the milk procured by cooperative and private dairies was the other major demand through this agitation. Last year farmers had agitated in the protest for better price for milk. The state had already fixed the MSP for milk at Rs 27 per litre after similar protests, but dairies are failing to keep the rates up due to the fall in the price of milk powder, their major money earner, in the international markets.

“Ours is joint family. I have a brother, he toils in the sugarcane farm and rears cattle. But milk produce is no more profitable.” Says Pravin Khawate, a techie working for an IT company participated in the protest.

Explaining further, he said, “Let's see the contrast. My brother in village sells milk at 16-22 Rupees per litre and here in Pune, I purchase it at 54 Rupees per litre. Even if we consider the processing costs, packaging and advertising and seller margin, the cost difference is unjustified and unfair.”

The farmers expect the government to grant a direct subsidy of Rs 5 per litre to dairy farmers as a market intervention attempt.

Jaywant Patole, from Kagal tehsil in Kolhapur, who call himself an active member of the Sanghatna, said, “The rates that milk farmers get have fallen below Rs 17 in some parts of the state. Some dairies have even refused cow milk, due to its low fat. Milk is no more a viable supplement to farming. We can't afford it.”

Shetti, who had made successful negotiations with the sugar commissioner, stood triumphant and proclaimed, “We’ll be back on July 21 to take the papers of orders passed on erring sugar factories. The cooperatives minister himself has 60 crores outstanding amount. If he does not pay that amount, we’ll show him what we can do,” adding, “If milk is not subsidised by July 16, Mumbai will not receive a drop of milk.”